Say Hello, 2.0

Hi, I’m Mark (which is probably easier to pronounce that Sui Juris, but often less available). I’m a long time cyclist who has turned into a pro/am racing fan over the years. I know just enough to sound like I know what I’m talking about, without actually knowing what I’m talking about. My profile notes that I’m a “Walter Mitty racer”, which means that even though I’ve held a USCF license for a few years, I’m still a Cat 5. In my (weak) defense, I’ve raced more in dirt, where we don’t need no steenking badg, er, licenses.

Apart from cycling, I’m just one of a million lawyers living and working in DC. You might notice that I enjoy a little bit of photography, too. If you want to be offended by my politics, you can always follow the URL in my profile. I try to reserve my offensiveness here for WADA, UCI, and the ASO.

I’m a long-time cycling enthusiast (27+ years) who has dabbled in racing, race promotion, direction of teams and clubs and bicycle race officiating. I loved the European circuit in the 80s and early 90s but have transitioned to following the domestic scene more closely since.

I enjoy the opportunity to share my insight now and then.

and I hate riding bicycles. Truly, one of the most torturous contraptions ever invented by man. The only bike I’ve owned since I was in high school, I gave away. I didn’t even want money for it. Which is why I stand astounded at the abilities of people to suffer legwise, abrasionwise, crotchwise, and all otherwise, in the saddle climbing up the Koppenberg or the Ghisallo or time trialing away in a Leipheimer “My Spine Is Jello” tuck. You couldn’t pay me money to do that. But I love paying money to watch other people do it.

Apart from my total lack of bicycling, I ride motorcycles. A lot. Hence the website associated with my profile.

Apart from riding motorcycles, I spend a lot of time sucking at the VDS competition.

Mark I’m so happy you started this. :-)

I’m a huge fan of CVV which only added to my love of Slipstream and the guys on the team. I’m not a cyclist by any means but I love riding my bike and ride as often as I can. Sunday’s are usually my hayday for that with getting in rides of 20+ miles hoping to get to 40-50 by the end of the summer. I get some pretty cool insights and awesome stories with some pretty awesome friendships I have. Funny how I’ve yet to meet some of my favorite riders yet e-chatter has some feeling like family!

When not diving into cycling fun stuff I work with regulatory “stuff” here in Chicagoland which keeps me busy and during some parts of the year includes working 7 days a week. Never fun but often made easier with fun loving cycling studs making me laugh and this here awesome site keeping me up to date!

If I figure out how to link a photo it will be done. I was going to ask for a “how to” post from Egoat and company on inserting pics and different basic linkage secrets for posts but this new format seems to have taken care of that cool stuff in the comment window. How awesome is that?? LOL!!!

Hi folks. My real name is Skip, so, yes, I’m a boy. The ursula thing is a long story and eals with my years of running the World Cup forums at BigSoccer. I’m strictly a recreational biker as I’m now 50 years old. I used to ride my bike to work every day here in Portland but since I started my own company (with my wife) and we located it two blocks away from where we live, I just walk and ride after work. Since I work about 25 hours a week I have a lot of time to ride! I first fell in love with Pro Cycling during the Eddy Merckx days.

Otherwise I’m a lefty acupuncturist and my clinic is called Working Class Acupuncture. I got three boys in college who ride everywhere they go.

Hey everyone,
I have watched pro racing casually since Lemond Days, but only started riding myself a few years ago. I have aspirations to race, but not the time…yet. I will race you to any stop sign in town, i may lose, but i’ll give it hell.

What i like to watch is the pro’s going uphill, can’t beat it.

Professionally i am the Vice President of a small company that performs thermal processing of metal goods.
My wife says I am a professional Smartass
My real name is Casher. I ride a Cannondale, name Dowell….hence my new name

Hi all, Drew here. Although the blog was and is Chris’ creation, I feel partly responsible for it since we used to argue about cycling via email and were in danger of getting Van P fired. So with my blessing Chris created Digital Peleton which in turn morphed into the fun new plaything we’re all currently enjoying.

I didn’t discover the joy of riding until 1996, and back then it was off road racing for me. Once I started edging over to asphalt and wallowing in OLN coverage of the World Cup (1999) I never looked back. I try and do as well as I can in crits and cross while riding 5-8 hours a week. I do feel good about commuting into work 1-2 days a week though when the weather is decent. That saves up to 80 miles of crap being spewed into the air while keeping my wallet a bit more inflated.

And speaking of inflated, isn’t it time that Chris weighed in? Wow – this is so much more fun than email.

Started out as a casual Tour watcher during the Lance years, really fell in love with cycling after spending 9 months in Germany in ‘02. I am one of those Fat Tire riding guys who love to ride the dirt through the woods. Pro Cycling is my second favorite sport and fortunately it runs pretty much opposite on the calendar to my favorite. Nickname is self explanatory as I have never been anywhere close to the weight weenie side of life. Found PC Cafe after looking for a blog that actually had some real information in English several years ago.

;-)

inflated… indeed. I started in on racing in 1985, prodded by my neighborhood friend Steve who’s now an ESPN sportscenter guy, and I know in his heart of hearts he’s plotting an armed takeover one day where he forces them to show nothing but Cycling. Anyway, he sat me down in front of the TV the day Marc Madiot won Paris-Roubaix… and a cycling nut was born. I’ve raced sporadically for about 12 of the last 24 years, but I still haven’t won yet. I’m an enviro lawyer, now with the gov in Seattle. Because every salmon needs a good lawyer these days…

My login name is not that original, or clever, but I’m an engineer, what do you expect?

The first bike I remember owning was my green Schwinn Stingray. I remember swapping out the bars so that I could get lower and go faster. That was my first taste of speed on a bike. I started “riding” when my older brother gave me his behemoth Sears “10-Speed” with stem mounted shifters and “safety” brakes. It was around this time that “Breaking Away” hit the theatres. Pulling 30 lbs of bike up the hills in Western Massachusetts is great training, let me tell you. :) I rode all through High School, and College, but never raced. After College I continued to ride, even as I moved to the west coast. But shortly after the move I lost motivation. I got married, we had kids, and I got “fat”. Fast forward 10 years and my wife motivated me to get back on the bike. I’ve been back on the bike about three years now, I have my Cat 4, but I don’t really race much. I do like to TT though. Current bikes, BMC, Cervelo P3, and a Guerciotti.

Started biking back as a wee lad in the woods outside Toronto. My first road bike was a ‘cross bike with road tires. The idea was that I could ride off road too. I didn’t. So now I’m in my first year racing. My season warms up with collegiate racing in the states, which gets me used to beautiful roads. And then I switch to the Quebec racing, which promptly destroys my wheels. Started watching porcycling in 2004 with the tour on OLN. Also recovered the joys of being a grad student at the same time. Wake up, watch a bike race, then start your day.

Anyways, when not on the bike I’m pursuing a PhD at McGill in behavioural neuroscience studying the structure of memory. But because I’m either on the bike, or watching the bikes more often than not…this may take a while.

I also want a scraper bike!

Post menopausal, overweight, occasional girls bike rider (cause I can’t get my fat leg over the bar). In 2003 my British husband of two years had a heart attack, I came home from work one day to find him lying on the couch watching the Giro on OLN. (That was the year they showed all three grand tours). I’d never seen a cycle race before, and I haven’t missed much of what is going on in the European peloton since. Found Podium Cafe the first year that cycling.tv was in business, but have not subscribed to cycling.tv since. Which is why I enjoy the live commenting so much. I’m here a lot more than I post, I’m a semi-lurker.

In RL, I’m CEO of this company located in Southern Utah. My two sons help run the place.

I ride the streets of Washington DC looking for adventure.

My dad road his bike to work everyday, in Minnesota. In the rain. In the snow. In the cold. As a kid I though that was pretty cool. As an adult I think that’s insane, but it’s exactly what I do—except I live in a warmer place now.

I ride an ‘07 LeMond, a late 90’s Peugeot I converted to a fixie (52×18) and a 1964, bronze green Raleigh 10 speed. My wife rides a Bianchi Avenue (sort of) and has a huge picture of lil’ Tommy Voeckler at a moment when he realized he was going to keep the yellow jersey one more day.

Podium Cafe is the first thing I read every morning.

I grew up in Tacoma, and lived there till the fall of 2001 when I moved to North Carolina to be with the woman of my dreams. Like Chris, I made a living off of Salmon (c’mon Chris-you get more money from it than they do:) as a fish biologist for several different agencies. Here in NC I work for NCDENR as a water quality technician since salmon don’t seem to do as well here…...

I rods MTB’s sporadically for years but was primarily a climber/seakayaker/fisherman. Fishing was first to go here in NC (bass just ain’t the same) and over the last few years I have gradually climbed less and rode more till, in no small encouragement from Egoat, now I’m pretty much a geeked out cyclist. All the muscles have officially moved from my upper to my lower body.

For those doubters who say they have not seen me and ElvisGoat in the same room at the same time: I’m short, blonde and very Norwegian (hence my Diminutive Vikings VDS squad) while he is tall, baldish, and of a much more inferior central European mixed stock. I’m real. Really.

Thanks all, for the little community here—You have added much knowledge and enjoyment to my love of all things bike related. Just don’t ask my wife about it as you might get a different answer.

Now about that cat of yours..or is it Egoats?

I don’t ride, because I cannot afford a bike and I don’t actually have any free time anymore. I’m a reference librarian in Michigan (the Detroit metro area) and I work at two small(ish) public libraries.

I’ve been a cycling fan since 2003, but I also love and adore soccer/football (and lots of other sports, but I won’t get into that here). And, as everyone knows, my favorite rider is Sylvain Chavanel. I also have a website (justanothergirl) and a needs to be updated more cycling blog. I have a soccer/football blog which gets a lot more action because, for now, I can’t afford cycling.tv and I have ways to watch a lot of European football (and legal ways to watch MLS).

I’m currently job hunting for public librarian positions on the East Coast (from Mass down to NC) as well as other EST places. I’m not reading to leave the Eastern time zone just yet. Two other things: the username is from William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition and my userpic is of the 2007 Arsenal Ladies football team (my favorite footie team is Arsenal, hence my VDS team being ‘the gunners’).

I don’t post here nearly as often as I’d like – three kids, full time job (although I work from home, selling an investment research database to Wall Street types), writing for my website (The Virtual Musette), in the early stages of working on a book (great cyclists of the post war period), and of course riding three or four times a week. That said, I’m a daily lurker and the Podium community is my lifeline to live race coverage.

Here’s more (taken directly from my site):

“I’m just a regular Joe Blow, middle-class worker bee, 40 something guy who loves road riding and the sport – a fan. My addiction started in the mid 80’s with the purchase of my first real road bike, a Peugeot. Cycling offered a permanent solution to the abuse, and chronic injuries, inflicted by running. I soon became engrossed in the professional sport, and couldn’t wait until each new issue of Winning magazine arrived. I used to race, but was nothing more than a hack Cat 4. I’ve tried mountain biking, but my lack of coordination (i.e. multiple brushes with death), convinced me to stick to asphalt; it is for this same reason I’ve steered clear of both cyclocross and the track. I’m sure those are wonderful disciplines, but I’ll just have to take your word for that. So, two missing teeth, one broken pelvis, lots of road rash, hundreds of shorn legs, and ten bikes later, I’m still as passionate about road cycling as the day I caught the bug over twenty years ago.”

Probably way more than you all wanted to know, but there you go, introduction complete.

Thank you all for brightening my day on regular basis.

I’ve been coming to PodiumCafe for a bout a year now, and this is my first full season of watching the pro peloton. Before last year, my pro cycling knowledge consisted of the Tour. Now, my addiction to cycling has surpassed my first love: baseball. I’ve already got tickets to Belgium next year for the cobbled classics, and I can’t wait to tune into cycling.tv for my first giro.

On the personal side, I started my own agency two years ago. The best part of self employment: I can watch cycling.tv all day.

Also, I am an unashamed triathlete with aerobars and a firm believer that the St. Louis Cardinals are the greatest franchise in sports history.

...I guess that’s me. I’m Scott from southeastern Virginia (Hampton Roads). I’ve been into road racing since 1989 after I wrecked my car and bought a bike (Fuji Palisades) to get around. A navy buddy/roadie took me to a crit about a year after and even though I got smoked…I was hooked. I slowly ramped up my enthusiasm and got to witness my very first pro race – the ‘93 Corestates when Lance made everyone else look stupid.
Even though I was late in the game, I did manage to work my way up to Cat. 3 before marriage, children and a demanding job as U.S. Navy submariner took over…(sigh)
...now, my awesome, custom painted Serotta hangs from the ceiling in my garage with various parts missing that I used to build up an unforgiving fixed gear for Saturday morning rides before soccer games and ballet rehearsals…(sigh, again).

But I digress, I don’t recall how I stumbled onto PodiumCafe but I really appreciate everyone’s effort and insight. I don’t always login but I always enjoy reading and staying informed.
Congratulations Chris (et. al) on 2.0! When I get some time, I’ll need to figure out the bells and whistles…too late, I gotta go refill a sippy-cup.

Probably my most memorable cycling exploit involved carrying a 20 pound frozen turkey on my back from my godmother’s house back to ours when I was 12 . . .

Started riding again in 1984—because of college roommates, then discovered there was a sport, started racing (and overtraining and taking long blocks of time off) both dirt and off-dirt back then . . . did the grad school thing (and one classic launch into the Fenton River off the Nipmuck trail, boy am I glad there was water in that stream . . .)

Started really riding again in January of 1999. Started racing again in 02 (with a break in 03 and 04 when son #2 was born). Split time between cat3 and m45+ where I’m just slightly better than mid-pack fill.

The day (and occasionally night) job is a Professor of American Lit. at a smallish Liberal Arts college/university in Abilene, TX.

I was born in WI, raised in IL and MD, went to college in TN, but I’ve settled down now a little bit. I’m 48, been married for 8 years now, and I work in the Twin Cities during the week and commute home to my Hubby in WI on the weekends: I have great weekends!

I’m a recreational cyclist, at best, but I spend a lot of time on my excercise bike during the long winters. I love to watch race dvds while on my exercise bike. I’m a Europhile, a history geek, and a big reader; I’ve always got 3 or 4 or 5 books going, all at once.

I got interested in professional cycling during the Le Mond years, but really became a die-hard fan about seven years ago, after watching OLN’s coverage. I was a starry-eyed Lance freak, until… well, let’s just say until I educated myself and experience taught me cynicism.

I found this site when it was the Digital Peloton, and lurked for a long time before I ever posted. I learn so much here; it’s amazing. I especially love the race chats here.

And I’m madly in love with Jens! Voigt. Unreservedly. There, it’s out in the open now….I feel better already.

Although I have never filled out a personal add, I am sure this is analogous to it. I am cat 3 racer, hopefully to be a 2 soon, and stay at home dad with 2 bosses under the age of 5. Due to my job I am proficient at riding the rollers and pulling a trailer for long hours. I have some degrees that go unused and possess a dry sense of humor that does not convey well in this medium.

I really enjoy the banter and intelligence of this community. It is often one of the first places that I look for news and is easily my most visited site. Thanks to everyone for contributing.

Longtime lurker, second time poster. More and more lately I’ve been visiting PdC for news that I’m just not getting at the big 3 (CN, VN, Pez). Anyone know what happened to Bicirace.com? That used to be a good English language Italian website that just quit working one day. Anyways, glad to be here.

Hi all. I’ve been following pro cycling since about 1985. Back then my favorite riders were Hinault & Lemond (of course) but to this day my favorite rider is and probably always will be Marco Pantani. I’ve had a thing for the grimpeur ever since. And I think Ricco has the potential to be the next great Italian champion.

I’ve been (part time) racing road and cyclocross for 6 years, resigned to my fate as a career cat-4.

My name comes from this guy Who I used to always see roaming the streets of San Francisco.

A soon to be 35 year-old from Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden, located just across the sound from Copenhagen. I’ve always loved riding a bike and managed to nag my father into buying me a 9-speed Motobecane when I was thirteen. That was the first in a string of racers that I never actually raced but mostly just rode around trying (unsuccessfully) to look cool. All the riding did give me freakishly strong legs though, to the surprise of my gymteacher who otherwise looked with great skepticism at my athletic abilities. The bike has since become my main mode of transportation (mostly danish singlespeed Centurion bikes) as I didn’t get a drivers-licence until three years ago when my work demanded it.

Like many people in my part of the world my procycling-interest was awakened in 1996 when Bjarne Riis won the Tour. My dad and I were renovating my parents house when newspapers started writing about the Tour. That caught our interest so on the coffebreaks we would follow the stages. In -97 we did stage 2 of the houserenovation and spent more time watching than we did working. My dad lost interest as the doping became the main story but I was hooked, especially as I found this whole other thing called “the classics” which were a weird sort of race where none of the people I knew about were even riding, Who was this Musseuw-fellow anyway? It’s all been downhill since and now in parts thanks to this site I am a certified freak.

In real life I run an interior-design store/cookshop (something like a cross between Crate & Barrel and Willams) Sonoma, I originally studied political science at the university but realized somewhere along the way that I couldn’t picture spending my life in an office researching or producing semi-worthless reports. Fate or blind luck landed me in my current line of work which I enjoy immensely except for the fact that I rarely get to decide over my free time. I try to ride at least 5-6 hour/week on my DeRosa Team. Weather and schedule makes it very irregular as I’m very much a fair-weather cyclist. Suffering is for waching on TV, my own riding is mostly for pleasure. That said, some days you get the most pleasure from riding yourself into the ground just to enjoy the shower and the relaxation after the ride.

Yeah, not that original but like John, I R an engineer.

I’m a rider but not a serious cyclist (yet but that’s another story). A big fan of all things cycling, both in the European and domestic peloton, I just love to know story behind the story…. which is why two years ago, at the urging of a friend, I started writing articles for cycling sites, where I could finally ask the questions I wanted to, and this year started my own blog, podium in sight, on domestic cycling.

Born & raised in the Montreal burbs (yep that explains the accent), moved to San Francisco about 13 years ago after a time in Europe and traveling around the world.

Lastly, I bow my head in shame that when I was living in Paris (89-92 years) I would to complain about the brouhaha caused by the Tour when it came into town. shame.

I am a 42 year old single mom of 2 teenage girls, or more accurately one teenage and one is 20 so she wouldn’t appreciate being called a teenager any longer. We live in the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento California. I work in Sacramento.

As a child I loved riding my bike. We lived on a long, sloped street so a group of us kids would routinely race down it. One day I crashed at top speed. I was 12 years old. I had a dislocated shoulder, broken collarbone, concussion, went into convulsions and sported some horrid road rash over about 20% of my body. I spent a scary night in the hospital. This was 1977 and no one wore helmets. Ever since then my security on a bike has been shaken. I still managed to ride the trails in my 20s and early 30s but have become a chicken in my old age. I am afraid I will fall and be badly hurt and who would support my kids then?

My high school boyfriend and once fiance was a serious road cyclist and would go out on long training rides with the guys. I went to the Coors Classic with him one year. That started my interest in competitive cycling. I also liked the type of guys who chose it as their sport.

I’ll admit it was Lance Armstrong’s TdF run and the corresponding OLN coverage that got me hooked. Before that there wasn’t much coverage in the US. I needed to know more and after Lance retired I went to the internet looking for info on the riders and teams I liked and wanted to root for. Then I started seeing the intricasies of the sport and have been hooked since. It is a beautiful sport. I lived in Europe for a few years in my 20s and love seeing the countryside as the peloton passes. It brings back memories.

I just started searching for cycling coverage online and this was the place I liked. If it is important in cycling it is posted here. I love how everyone is respectful and that Chris and Drew and the rest of the regulars keep a close eye on the place.

The only thing I don’t like about Podium Cafe is the crap Levi gets here.

Thanks for all the hard work! Looking forward to doing the TdF VDS for my first try at it.

as in the Mur of La Fleche. I used to be Alon, but that was taken!? I’m another stay at home dad with 5 and 2 yr old boys (who both are cycling fans, I kid you not.) My home is in NW Montana, but I live/ work in the SF area in the spring. I casually followed the Tour during the Lance years, but I got hooked as a fan on PdC by the ‘06 Vuelta of all things. Then it got better with the Worlds and Lombardia, and my first Classics and Giro the next spring. I’ve been a bike commuter since grade school and rec mtb’er (single-speed for the last decade), but I bought my first road (well, cx, actually, for commuting, too) bike last spring and I love it! Thanks Chris and everyone else that contributes.

I’m Gavia, because Stelvio sounded too manly and Mortirolo too morbid. Also, I can’t spell Fidieia. I started posting about cycling to procrastinate in grad school, and I’ve been doing it ever since in various places under various names (though pretty much only here as Gavia these days). I like this place because there are oodles of people with tons of knowledge. I learn stuff. And learning is good. It also has a great vibe. Vibe is key.

Lessee. I race bikeys – both road and XC at various times and places. No cross, maybe I should fix that. I’m thoroughly attached to my bikeys. Riding is a great escape from real life. Or, maybe it’s an escape to real life. I see so many random things out there, and I love nothing more than to get to the top of a big climb. So satisfying. I’ve also met a ton of fab people riding and racing.

Pro cycling, hmm, I think I started following European racing when Pantani was winning the Tour. I love the tactics involved in road racing, ‘specially stage races.

I have a knack for languages. Uh, maybe that’s obvious? Anyway, I like the stories, cycling is great for that. I started reading non-English sites to practice my languages. Then, it got all ass-backwards, because I began picking up more languages to read more bike racing. That, and well, words are cool.

Um…. I live in Cali. I’m married to another bikey racer. I cohabitate with a wacky Siamese. And I have a really bad espresso habit.

That’s all I can think of…

an engineer from Finland.
Wife, 3 kids, live in Turku, 70 miles from the capital Helsinki.
For some strange reason I got interested in cycling after the Festina scandal, probably because that was the only thing the Finnish press wrote about cycling.
Have been following the sport more or less after that.
I ride, not much, since I hate head and sidewind…. I’m too old (or weak=lazy) for pedalling against the wind, and after braking my hip last year, l’m not to eager to get on the pedals too much anymore.
My very unusal name for a Finn (Bruce) comes from that I was born in the States, wayyyy back in time, when my late parents were working there..

This place is fantastic, and even though I’m struggling a bit with all the new stuff here, thanks to everyone, especially Chris!!

My avatar is a picture of me with my new bike on my ninth birthday. I love that picture because it reminds me of how, as a kid, getting a bike opened up a whole new world for me. Suddenly, I could travel beyond my immediate neighborhood without being confined in the back seat of my parents’ car, explore new parts of the city with my friends, and learn what it was like to get lost, and have to figure out my own way home.

Riding a bike has always been a big part of my life, and in 1985, cycling opened up another new world for me when I was channel surfing on a sunday afternoon and came upon the one-hour-a-week coverage of the Tour de France. I’d never been a sports fan before. I could never understand how my dad could possibly care enough to be able to recite the college stats of every NFL quarterback, and now I’m at least that much of a trivia geek (but for a much more beautiful sport). It was the drama playing out over the three weeks of the 1985 Tour that drew me in, and the colorful cast of characters: the brave Hinault getting up from a crash to finish the stage with his face covered in blood, then struggling proudly in the mountains with his broken nose, and the young American upstart, eager to break out of the shadow of the Patron and race for himself. The ‘86 and ‘87 Tours were similarly dramatic, and I was hooked. For years I followed only the Tour, and barely knew other races existed, but thanks to OLN (when they used to have better coverage), and the web, I discovered that I can enjoy bike racing almost all year long.

I like the friendly atmosphere of this site, and the fact a lot of people here seem to be, as I think I am, clear-eyed about the doping problem, but still able to enjoy the sport for its beauty, drama, and unparalleled athleticism.

Ursula, if you’re a boy, we’re still sisters, right? Just checking.

I’m in Pittsburgh (no secret, so I added it to my tag when inspiration faltered). If you want to see my ride, click on the little picture thingy. I have two of them. My husband (Pieter, Dutch, all-weather cyclist even in Iowa) has a couple more. One tandem in each state, too. And then there are the odd bikes [wink]. My newest bike interest in truing really crappy old wheels by feel and guesswork. I do genetics and grassroots politics of the “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization” school (addendum-“and it better go where it’s supposed to go”). Too irreverant and blurt-prone to go to any big-name events-and that’s the way I like it!

Recently I’m trying to begin to start a “rebuild old houses” co-op for people in Pgh’s disadvantaged neighborhoods, where a rehabable 3-story brick building from 1910 with hand-carved eaves can get torn down because the windows are busted out and the pests have moved in. Anyone with experience in co-op law out there? (I know it’s off-topic and state specific, but I figure a one-time ask isn’t so bad.)

Oh, I’m also a pretty hard core diver, off and on (time and finances and muscles allowing). Walk. Ski. Root up knotweed. Tease the cats.

I am a woman and my real name is Ursula. Imagine my shock…

But seriously, Jimbo is my real name, or at least my real nickname. It would be more accurate to write it as “Jimbo!”, since that is how it always seems to be pronounced by my friends, but around here only Jens! has earned the exclamation point, and I would rather not be shunned…

In real life I’m a future cat 5, 40-something, suburban, minivan drivin’ average joe with shaved legs and a cycling fetish. I have two beautiful daughters, and a very understanding wife. I am very, very fortunate to live in the cycling mecca of Marin County, California where I can ride out my door to the roads they use to film almost every car commercial you have ever seen. I feel very comfortable hanging around this virtual place even though I know next to nothing about cycling, cycling history, cycling stats, do not have a VDS team (this year at least), and my usual comments consist of little more than bad one liners and sarcasm. Or at least that is my intention. And for any of you out there who also do not have a VDS team, fear not . There is plenty to read, learn, and comment upon around here without one. It takes a village. Or something like that…

I found the cafe a few TdFs back when the great orange Satan mentioned it and have been a addict ever since. My productivity level at work has been in precipitous decline. I got into cycling as an activity back in the 80’s in the LeMond days and I still have my very first road bike which I now use as an occasional commuter. I have ridden my little hunk of Italian lead from SF to Oregon, around the central coast of California, LA, Marin county. I only just got my second road bike last week. No kidding. So it is fair to say that bike sales people would not view me as a high-volume customer. And let me point out that bike technology has changed quite an amazing amount in the past 25 years. Holy crap… but back on topic… nothing makes me happier than getting up on a Sunday at 4 AM, trying to login to Cycling.tv for 30 minutes, finally getting in, and then following along on the race commentary with you, my fellow freaks. Maybe someday we will all meet up in person and watch a race, or maybe even go for a ride! On that topic, if any of you ever get to the SF area, or for those of you already here, we should meet up. In fact, next Flanders, you are all invited to my place! Bring your own Leffe and I will provide the sausages and frites! We will get drunk, go down to the bike path, and scream at the club cyclists as they spin by…

for sharing their stories, posting their comments, reading those comments, or even stopping by once in a while to check out the site and see what’s going on. I just finished reading this thread and all I can say is wow! I think it sums up everything that the rest of the site strives to be, and is beyond anything I could imagine when Chris first sprang the idea of a cycling blog on me.

I know I speak for the Editor in Chief himself and Van P when I tell you that the 3 of us take an immense amount of pleasure in being a part of the community that has grown here. It couldn’t be done to this degree without the rest of you and really is symbolic of how a community can function and police itself given a few simple ground rules of politeness, respect, and consideration.

For me at least it’s like going to a wonderful cocktail party where I only know the host, but drinks are free, all the guests are terribly interesting, and cycling is the only thing discussed when the topic of sport comes up. As a bonus I get exposed to such diverse topics as recombinant DNA, a history of cod (subset – the Basques), trout fishing, and interior design (among others). Oh – and the party keeps going 24×7.

I’m at best a very casual, recreational cyclist who lives in New York. I started following pro cycling during the Lance TdF years, but that just got me interested in trying to read whatever I could find and watch old tapes to learn more about the sport. At first I was intrigued by the tactics and strategies, but I quickly came to appreciate the wonderful personalities and tradition of the sport as well.

I’ve learned a lot from some very helpful internet posters, and I’ve gotten very good at following the live ticker at Cyclingnews while appearing to be hard at work. The only hint of what I’m really doing is my Gavia Pass photo mousepad.

When I was about 5 years old I would take my older brother’s bike and walk it up a hill and then ride it down the hill. When I got close to the bottom I would crash into some bushes to keep from rolling into the street, I didn’t know the first thing about the brakes or pedaling for that matter. It must have been fun because I kept on doing it.

That pretty much explains my posting style too, I’m never very graceful, rarely look good doing it but I’m having a lot of fun with a great group of cycling fans who respect each other.

from Edmonton Canada … getting over surgery 2 months ago so still haven’t been outside on my bike this year :-( , but last summer my husband and I went to the Tour and did some riding there (made it up Alpe d’Huez, don’t ask me what my time was ;-) ). I first watched the Tour in 2003, when training for my first (short) triathlon and my husband was trying to get me to ride with a higher cadence, conveniently he could demonstrate the difference between Armstrong and Ullrich’s riding styles … and I was hooked on the Tour. It wasn’t until 2005 that I started paying attention to more than just the yellow jersey, both Cadel Evans’ and Chris Horner’s attacking rides in that Tour and McEwen’s sprints caught my attention and they became favourites. And from there I discovered various cycling websites, and cycling.tv, and here, and so on…

(and I really should be packing because we leave for a week’s holiday tomorrow – not great timing re: Giro but you take the holiday time you can get).

I’m an anaesthetist (North American translation: anesthesiologist) from Sydney, Australia. Stumbled onto PC a while ago and was a long time lurker. I love this site – the quick wit, self deprecating good humour, and complete lack of aggressive flaming that seems to drag down other cycling forums.

Have followed pro cycling for many years, and was quite into recreational road and MTB. This kinda got curtailed when I was hit by a car (stupid Sydney drivers!). I now have issues with riding on road in Sydney, so I mainly run (and go orienteering), but try and MTB and the occasional adventure race when I can.

Quite happy to ride outside Sydney though: have been lucky enough to do the White Rim trail in Moab, Vienna-Budapest along the Danube, and earlier this year did 850km across Thailand and Laos. Fabulous.

Keep it up everyone! It really is one of my favourite sites.

Greetings, my real name is Brian. The name Fausto is one that I inheritted from my college days. My best friend and I were riding buddies and became known as the Bonzo brothers, Fausto and Joop. I live in southern Utah where there are few road rides, but the few we have are awesome. Lots of climbing, little traffic, decent roads, abundant scenery. I raced in my teens and 20’s, but now as I get close to 50 I am content with being a recreational cyclist, who still loves to push hard on climbs. I work as a guide leading llamapacking, hiking, and cycling trips. I like the American teams Slipstream and High Road and like both Big George and Levi. I really enjoy this forum and the things you all have to say about my favorite sport bike racing.

I live on my multigenerational farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mt of North Carolina. I’m mariied to my wife of 12 years who is a yoga therapist. I have a 9 yr old son, Cedar who is a stud and I can’t wait until he can go road biking with me. I bought him a Redline cross-bike last fall and he can kick my butt already.

I'm trained as a Landscape Arch., worked mostly as an urban and small town planner and now I'm the Exe. Director of a tax exempt economic development group based here in Stokes County, NC.  We concern ourselves with rural economic development, heritage tourism and local foods production/promotion.

I started riding during the Lemond/Hinault era and was hooked right away. Initially a roadie/tourer, I quickly converted to MTB’s in th mid 80’s. My ill spent youth as a motocross racer has always served me well on the dirt and in the trees.

I started rock climbing in the early 90’s and that fulfilled my adrenaline outdoor junkie needs until I was seduced back onto the MTB thingy in ‘99 or so. Once back to my roots I began to kick ass with a vengeance culminating with a run at the Cane Creek series in 2002 where I pulled out a few wins and 3rd overall in my class.

All that Mtb racing got me back into road bikes as training where I learned that road bikes were much less fuss than Mtb and the roads around here were better than the trails and I’ve been hard at it ever since. I’ve had a few 5000+ mi years, though I’m probably around 3000 or so a year now. This still includes some Mtb-ing and trail running. I basically only go climbing with Cedar, who is much better than me, so no more about that.

I heard about PdC from C.tv back in early ‘06 and have been a pain in the ear here ever since. I love pontificating about race strategy and team tactics but most of all I love the beauty of the sport.

Thanks to all of you for making this such a great site.

I’m Ryan and I just want to say that I think it is so great to see that most of you all are actually mostly normal, well adjusted people that cycling is only one small part of your lives.
It is a bit different for me on the other hand.

Back in the ‘90 I had disillusions of grandeur and raced a bunch both on the road and off.
My efforts never really amounted for much, but it did keep me broke and in great shape.

Then I became a mechanic for Pro team in the US and for about 4 years, I was on the road for about 10 months a years going from one race to the next.

After I got that out of my system, I settled in Santa Cruz, Ca for another 5 years working for some of the bike companies in that area and riding some of the most amazingly beautiful roads I have ever seen.

In 2005, I packed up everything and moved to Taiwan to work in the bicycle industry over here making some of that cool stuff you all drool over.
Oh, and the road riding over here is actually really good!

I’ve lurked on this site for about a year, and only recently decided to speak up.
I really like the race day threads as C.TV doesn’t effectively work over and you all really add a little color to the CN Race coverage.
So thank you and please keep it up.

- Ryan

In real life I’m Martin. Shock to the system when I found this whole website tranformed into something new. Haven’t had time to wander around but I’ll find out all the new tricks eventually.
As a young boy you could find me fishing in the pond nearby my parental house in Rotterdam, meanwhile listening to my little battery operated transistor radio listening to our Dutch reporter Theo Koomen from the back of the Tour-motorcycle, my first introduction to cycling. And of course swearing at that radio big time when the batteries ran out, again! (This was pre-duracell times, of course) ;-)
By now I’m 49, and almost all my time revolves around cycling. Got involved in a cyclingame during the Tour de France in 2003, and hooked ever since. I now co-operate two websites. The cyclingcompetition.com and the cyclingfever.com domains are my babys. Haven’t been around at Podium Cafe much as we’ve started a new project with CyclingFever this year (Race specials on specific races + competitions) and that’s taking up most of my time right now. A lot of building still has to be done, we hope to have some sort of ‘finished-product’ ready by the end of 2008.
As you gather by now I live in Holland, millions of bikes in this country. A bad knee prevents me to get on the bike, so instead I watch as much as I can these days. We’re very fortunate to see most of the races live, either on Dutch national, or Belgian national TV.

As for my favorite riders? Like many, Jens! is one of ‘em, and if Erik Dekker would still ride he’d get my vote in a flash. His Paris – Tours win when he stayed ahead of the whole peloton, after having escape 180 km before that, is still ranked among the most beautiful victories ever, IMHO. Lance wasn’t liked in Holland much, yet I liked this guy. Truly one of the greats, if not the greatest, I admired the way Armstrong transformed cycling in a sense. Not riding all he could, but specialising on the Tour, when all the other riders didn’t. We know the result, I loved the climbing and the miniscule gears Lance used as opposed to the immense gears Ullrich (f.i.) used. Now Samu Sanchez is one of my favorites, along with Damiano Cunego, who of course are on my yearlong VDS-team, which is otherwise crap. :)
I probably like the Grand Tours more than the classics, maybe I’m a fool, maybe y’all disagree, but I like the build-up to these big races. The stress in the peloton is cleary visible, especially in the first week, I just love that. Trying to predict what will happen is hardly possible (like stage 3 in the Giro), but we all try and love doing that. It’s also nice to put that into words on the CyclingFever website, where I post a daily preview to every stage. Not being a native English speaker does however hold me back somewhat in this language, as the fluency, sayings and vocabulary don’t come naturally to me.
Around the Podium I must be a lurker, just can’t find enough time to write on a weekly basis, but I try.
Trust that gives you a little insight into the DZI character.

Thnx Chris & crew for making the Podium Cafe possible!

I think that Drew hipped me to PdC right from the get-go, if I recall correctly. I don’t post much here these days, but I still read and appreciate the input from all. Chris’ work on this site and the VDS stuff is heroic. Drew, however, is a wanker.

I did my first bike race at the ripe age of 14, back in ‘88 (when real men wore Bolle goggles and leopard-print helmet covers). Bikes have always been part of my life and I’ve always followed the sport (even back when I had to wait a few weeks to find out who won the TdF—remember those days?), but I only raced sporadically until after I finished grad school and lived in Boston. I’m now a Cat 3 hoping to crack Cat 2 either this season or next. I’ve toed the line in nearly 20 races so far this season (but some time off is thankfully on the horizon) and I spend far more time training than I should.

In real life, I’m a (newly tenured) university professor, married (to a very patient and understanding woman), and live in Solvang, California (in late winter, you can’t swing a dead cat in town without hitting a pro cyclist. Ivan Basso pinched my ass, I’ve caught a draft behind big George Hincape (yes, he is big), Jens! joked with me about getting me on CSC (liar!), and I’ve taken a roadside piss with Eki).

So, I’ll keep reading and comment when I can. And Drew is a wanker.

To know that the guru of cyclingcometitie is not infallible makes life so much nicer! And what a lovely, thorough site you have made! P.S. For a bad knee, try swimming with fins (flippers) if you have a local pool where you can do that. It may help enough to get back on the bike.

I’m Megabeth.

Personal stuff: I am Sui Juris/Mark’s other half. My biking consists of riding behind him, attempting to draft, and then getting left behind…but he’s a good rabbit for me. I don’t follow him, however, with mountain biking. I prefer road biking.

Beginner “Triathlete”: I started doing triathlons last year. Swimming and biking are my strongest. Let’s not discuss my running.

Geek: Last week I rode in the Air Force Cycling classic, lost my chain, and was assisted by Mavic support to get it back on. The guy helping me probably thought I was a loon because I was geeked out and kept babbling to him about how excited I was to be getting support from Mavic. (He was also good looking so that may have induced some of my blathering…)

Viewer: I have the Tivo set to record anything having to do with cycling. (A personal thrill was meeting Bob Roll and Al Trautwig in person.) I’m addicted to watching Le Tour and force Mark not to divulge anything about the day’s stage as I have to watch the versus coverage from start to finish when I get home from work. I will also venture out to any live race I can and thrill in the “woooosh” of the bikes flying by.

Fanatic: I’m obsessed with Dave Zabriske, his mustache, George Hincape and yelling BOONEN! at the tv during a sprint. Oh, I’m also oddly fascinated with the phrase (and the team) “powered by Chipotle”.

Conclusion: So, I’m the one behind the scenes while Mark is posting here. And, I’m sometimes the one holding his backpack with his camera equipment as he’s taking those finish line shots. I guess that means I’m his Mavic support.

Hi everyone!

I’ve been a fan of pro racing since the early 1980’s. La Vie Claire and Lamond, 7 Eleven and the 1984 Olympics all fueled my early interest. I was also a "Winning" subscriber in those days and could hardly wait for each issue to fill in all the blanks between the spattering of coverage here in the States. I remember rushing to buy a daily newspaper on the way home from work each day of the Tour to read the 1" list of stage placings. I also was glued to the TV when CBS used to cover Paris-Roubiax and the Tour on weekends. And I even admit to still enjoying John Tesh’s music for the Tour de France.

I remember the battle between Lemond and Hinault in the 1986 Tour, but it was the young Andy Hampsten that caught my real attention. I didn’t save every issue of "Winning", but the other day I pulled out the issue of Andy Hampsten’s epic 1988 Giro win. And for Chistian Vande Velde to take pink the opening day this year 20 years later was truly special! Fun to look back, as in that same 1988 issue there was an article about a 22 year old up and coming Russian named Ekimov.

Later, when Bobby Julich showed up in the 1997 Tour, he became and remains my current active rider. Around 6 years ago I became a fan of Team CSC and they along with Slipstream and a bunch of the Italian riders are my current favorites.

A big thrill was to have the Tour of California finish in my home town of Long Beach last year. To see the pro peloton ride the same streets I regularly ride was really special.

I’m a casual rider – still on c1984 Peugeot road bike. I keep thinking I’ll buy a new bike, but other expenses get in the way….. Lately I’ve been thinking getting of a single speed.

I hope to go see some live racing in Europe someday. Until then I’m happy to have found the Podium Cafe a few years ago. I’m a self-employed visual artist/designer, which makes it way too easy to spend more time than I should following my cycing addiction on the web. It’s wonderful to have found a community of other tifosi to hang out with. Thanks to everyone for making this the place to be!

If so, love it.

really don’t change all that much. Once you dial in the fit it’s really yours for life.

I’m in Georgia. I actually don’t read this site as much as I used to. Probably because when I first started reading the site and following cycling I was a runner. Now, I’m cycling which is taking more of my time. Through the influence of people on this site, I bought a CAAD9 and I’d like to finish a race (I started, but didn’t get very far).

I started commuting to work and I think I am getting better at this cycling thing. I still have a great deal to learn especially how to keep the rubber side from on the ground.

I got into cycling a few years ago when Tyler Hamilton hurt his collar bone in the Giro and came in second to Palo Salvodelli. When Floyd did his epic ride at the Tour I was amazed for days (well and I still am). I followed Lance as well, but I was more attached to the other American riders. I am definitely partial to Chris Horner because he seems to just love riding his bike.

One really cool thing about where I live (other than have a good cycling scene) is that the Jittery Joe’s roasting house is a block from my office. I’ve had some interesting conversations with them about their sponsorship of the Jittery Joe’s Cycling Team and with the internet person who sells all the JJ’s merchandise.

“Emerald Coast”, Cyclingrush means “Redneck Riviera”. Say hi to Club La Vela for me. (Or actually, don’t. I’m so ashamed.)

transplanted michigander stranded in loudoun county virginia (the better part of northern virginia), but oh i how i wish to be back in civilized territory (detroit’s the birthplace, ann arbor’s the heartplace)....

not a cyclist, tho i love watching road races: prefer stage races, can’t abide crits….

fav rider—chechu rubiera… love the mountain goats…..the more mountain stages the better….