GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll

Keeping Tempo is now on Twitter

GamJams Keeping Tempo has moved to Twitter:

http://twitter.com/gamjams

Follow GamJams there for breaking news, links to what's interesting in the racing blogosphere, and stuff that's not quite important enough to warrant more than 140 characters.

If you're not on Twitter, the GamJams feed is also piped into the GamJams NewsRoll, so you can read all the news without ever leaving GamJams.

Keeping Tempo: 4-8-09

What was it I wanted to tell you? Oh yeah, this:

• Jim Wilson's pictures from Tyson's Corner are now available.
• There is reason to believe that Kevin Dillard's Tyson's photos aren't far behind.
• And the Tyson's race results are now posted at NCVC's (crackling new) website.
• 92% of voters think You Got Dropped should keep on publishing photos of racers who spend the latter part of races working on their TT skills on the wrong side of the pack. I'm wondering if this isn't going to spur a moral hazard in amateur racing. Until there's a website dedicated expressly to podium photos, the best way to get some extra exposure for your sponsors is to fail miserably and publicly. On the other hand, it could also promote more aggressive racing, as the cost of failure isn't ignominy, but fame.
• There are race reports all over the place from the Weekend's activities - keep an eye on the Ambassador NewsRoll to watch them in real-time. That's what it's there for - to serve you race reports.
• The GamJams Regional Racing calendar now has VA-Cycling and MABRA races through the end of the year, as well as upcoming PA, NC and SC events. This weekend are Road Races in Mount Joy (PA) and Morgantown (WV), and a Time Trial in Readington (NJ). Where are you going? (Calendar tip: Click on "more info" in the event listing to go straight to the registration page.)

Keeping Tempo: 3-20-09

It's officially Training Camp season. For many, that means long weekends of endless climbs in the hopes of a good result at Jefferson Cup. For others, it's time to hone your spring spectator form. If you intend to sit on your couch and watch an entire Grand Tour come May and July, you'd best start with 7 hours of Milan-San Remo this weekend. CyclingFans.com is a reliable source for where to catch the action online.

• Spectating, like racing, isn't something you can just jump into without a warmup. Work through this 15-minute interval from last year's MSR finish over at Gay Racer.
• FIREbike wants to put on a two-person TTT this year, and needs it to be a good showing to secure a 2-day event at the same venue next year. Chime in with any feedback on the idea over there.
• Sigberto is mad as hell about the race to pre-register, and he's not going to take it anymore. Well yes he is, but he's not happy about it.
• You ever see those time lapse films about how a seed grows into a flower and then the flower blooms and then the petals wither and fall off then blow away? BikeVoice has that, but it's not a flower. It's a roof rack she and her group ride found on the side of the road and took home in pieces.
• There was some chatter on the MABRA list last week about the proposal in Oregon for a Bicycle Registration Bill, and what it might mean to us (not so much what it might mean to people in Oregon). Bicycle Retailer reports that the bill is all but dead. So don't worry about having to hang an ugly tin license plate on your carbon fiber TT rig.

Keeping Tempo: 3-18-09

Last week's Poll on Field Size Limits generated a lot of commentary, and over 140 responses. Over 2/3 of the people who responded think there should be some limit to the number of people from an individual team permitted to sign up. The breakdown looks like this:

Interesting, no?

Here's some other interesting stufff:

• In honor of Wintergreen registration opening today, Kyle has a video of what kind of fan support you might have to look forward to.
• I think there's an interesting debate brewing at Good Time Cycling Blog, on the role of aero equipment in racing. At what point is racing more about technology than fitness?
• You know that awful song that's about to get stuck in your head again, "So you had a bad day?" Yeah, so does Karen Got Wheels.
• Riding rollers is easy. Just not the first time. (I'd like to know who is in charge of selecting the "Related Videos" on YouTube. Is it you, Kyle?)

Keeping Tempo: 3-6-09

I'll keep this brief - there's riding to be done:

• It's officially Classics season. Kill 8 minutes the easy way with the 2001 Paris-Roubaix video over at Le Amateur Domestique.
• On the topic of Paris-Roubaix, Gripped Films has scheduled a second showing of Road to Roubaix at the Arlington Cinema 'N' Drafthouse, on Thursday March 12th. Get $5 tickets here.
• The Classics, by the way, are in Northern Europe. Just like Nick Mulder, who shares a taste of European racing. He just finished his first race of the year and has another in Belgium this weekend.
• BethBikes Retuled George Opria and some of his Evolution Cycling Teammates over the weekend, and hooked a few up with some eSoles as well. I think bike fits are the power meters of 2009 - everyone who doesn't get one will wonder if that's the reason they didn't win last weekend. And then go out and get one.
• Check out this sequenza over at racing saxophonist Brian Sacawa's (Lateral Stress Velo) blog. Doesn't it look suspisciously like this LT/VO2 workout file, also on Brian Sacawa's blog? Bike racing is everywhere.

Keeping Tempo: 2-5-09

Mmmm... smells like racing. Everything goes better with racing. Or is that bacon?

• If you like vintage pictures from the U Street Criterium, scanned in black and white newspaper photos of guys like The Muscle and Jay Moglia, want to try your hand at picking out racers in the break at a 1994 Tradezone race, you should check out Chris Schmidts Blogsite.
• Two deaths in competitive cycling were announced today. RayMan is not one of them.
• See the real-time attendee list for the MABRA BAR Party here, then get on it yourself by RSVPing.
• Ryan Dudek has a mess-o-photos from the Proteus Cross My Heart and the Super Bowl of Singlespeed Cyclocross race here. It was most excellent of the Proteus folks to stretch the season out a little longer.
• But it wasn't long enough for Idiot Cyvant, who is going through 'Cross Withdrawl.
• DCMTB has just announced their 2009 roster.
• There are over 80 members in the GamJams: Cyclists Hiring Cyclists LinkedIn Group, and some job postings as well. Join today, post any job where you might be able to help a fellow cyclist get a cleated shoe in the door, or let everyone else know if you're looking for work.
• Everybody knows that pre-reg for Tradezone (beginning 2/15) and the Snowball Criterium Series (beginning 2/22) are now open, right?

Keeping Tempo: 1-30-09

It's time again for Keeping Tempo, your trusted source for cycling news from around the web that the big cycling sites can't be bothered with, but which is frankly far more interesting than who Bert Grabsch sat next to on the plane to Qatar.

• FIREbike's wife is not a pole dancer, no matter what the elementary school teachers are saying. (Yeah, I know that has nothing to do with cycling but it's about the funniest thing I've seen on a racer's blog in a long time.)
• Essential tools for coach's winter clinic: Orange cones - Check. Stopwatch - check. Video camera - check. Water bottles - check. Toy dump truck with a face on it - check.
• New and gnarly in 2009 is the Lost River Classic Road Race in West Virginia. There's lots to like about this race, not the least of which is that it has its own blog that you can keep an eye on for race news and updates. I've added it to the GamJams Mid-Atlantic Racing NewsRoll so you'll get your Lost River Classic news in real-time.
• The only thing worse than crashing Davis Phinney out of a crit is, well, I can't actually think of anything worse.
• Is it race season yet? Kazane says "almost" and announces the Cullop's Imports Spring Criterium in Richmond, March 7th. 
• DJ Bike Police wants to know if anyone else has out-of-body experiences when thinking about bike racing. Anything you reply in his comments can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion.
• Should GamJams launch a "Rate my TT Position" feature?
• This sucks. Karen was struck by a car and sent to the hospital while out riding - while she was parked on the side of the road not even moving. Thankfully, she has no broken bones and was prescribed percocet. But the driver didn't even see her. Lots of drivers don't see lots of us - we all need to remember that.

For Sale around the blogs:

• FIREbike's Giant TCR Fixie
• The Granfalloon's 172.5mm Dura-Ace SRM powermeter crankset

If you have stuff to unload post them on your blogs (or someone else's), let me know and GamJams will link to them in an upcoming Keeping Tempo.

Keeping Tempo: 1-16-09

Today's Keeping Tempo is brought to you by Danny's Firewood. Danny is in between Charlottesville and Fredericksburg and delivers all over in VA, DC and MD. Good prices on 16-month seasoned hardwood that he delivers and stacks for free. He didn't pay for this ad, but without him I'd be shivering too much to type, so in a sense whatever I do today is brought to you by him. Call him at 540-672-7516 or see his ad on Craigslist.

• Avery compares bike racing to a video game he's playing: "I'm down at 1 hp left but I haven't given up I'm still dueling with all my might.  My opponent is a tall lava creature called a Totz-Xil, level 90. Yet, because I chose to courageously fight on, I was rewarded by hitting a couple 15's like this and even a 17. That's what bike racing is all about you have to get down to 1 health point left and still continuing, even if all your prayer has run out and your dragon weapon has run out of special attack charge." I think the 2009 Kazane Frame should be called the Dragon Weapon Special Attack Charge.
• Bikevoice gives props to the deserving Mike Hosang, winner of this year's Peter Teeuwen Award, presented annually to racers who made significant contributions to local racing. 
• Anna Kelso points towards another local hero of cycling - Representative Early Blumenauer of Oregon, who founded the Congressional Bike Caucus. Says Anna, "With the twilight of the automotive age on the horizon, it is forward thinkers such as Blumenauer who will pave the way for a more sustainable future." Settle down CX and MTB racers. She means "pave" only figuratively.
• Endurance Junkie has named his trainer room "The Garage of Rage" and has pictures.
• L'Amatuer Domestique already has a plan for every single race in 2009: All or Nothing, every time out. If you've raced against him, you know this isn't hollow rhetoric.
• Jen Cheng wants to know, "how come her block is more aerodynamic than my block?"
• Peter Cannell has an interesting new article up on Nutrition Before / During / After Training. Though many local racers are still waiting for the one on Nutrition Instead Of Training.
• And finally, there has been more activity in the GamJams Local Racing Transfer Directory, with ABRT/Lattitude, LSV, Richmond Pro and others adding some firepower for 2009.

Keeping Tempo: 12-10-08

What's better for December - windy and 25 degrees, or rainy and 55? Does your answer change if I also include "rest day"?

• Should FIREbike get an iBike?
• The Long Ride reviews some of his favorite podcasts as trainer-entertainment. I sure hope the Lake Wobegon stuff is for an endurance workout.
• According to his latest power file, Chuck Hutch's average power is nowhere near his normalized power. But it doesn't matter so much when the knob on your power meter goes to 11.
• Go Go (at Natz in KC), Devil Bunny!
• After a quarter of disappointing performances in the CX industry, Jones, Inc is on Capitol Hill today presenting the terms of the firm's recovery plan.
• If you didn't ride outside last weekend, you'll want to read Plain Jane's Winter Riding Refresher before heading out this weekend.
• Many of you are preparing wish lists. If what you wish for is to look "fresh", Avery shows you how.

Keeping Tempo: 11-18-08

Keepng Tempo today arrives courtesy of Atlantic Performance Training in Virginia Beach. Their mission is to make you better, faster, stronger through the use of "Biopsychomechanical" components. That means they train your systems, your mind, your body and - if you haven't sold it for BAR points - your soul. They're new in the Local Racing Sponsor Directory, in the Coaching / Training category.

• If you have never done the Conte's ride in epic conditions, you will. BikeVoice believes it is inevitable. "Distorted Bike Image (DBI) infects different riders every time the weather is extreme. The bike looks larger than it really is, taking on an importance above all reason. Once rider has satisfied bike with Conte's ride, the brain builds up the cells necessary to combat the urge which occurs only once in each individual... It is at the core of what it means to be alive, a contagion that says, 'must ride today.'"
• Be careful what you wish for Nate. Pythons that look great hoisting a trophy on the podium are likely to keep you from getting there in the first place.
• Gay Racer has the next pro-cyclist British TV commercial. Let the email passalong begin.
• Superdork advises you to think twice before riding on the sidewalk because it's safer than the street.
• Is the Muscle channeling Jay Moglia here? We knew all those trips to Raw Talent Ranch went to his legs, but the lonely mountain miles seem to have seeped into his very consciousness too.

Tomorrow it's Jay Moglia's words (with a guest appearance by the Muscle).