I guess I’ve always known that #bikeschool had a life of its own, but now it’s official.  It’s getting close to three years since @egggman, @bikerly, and I launched the hashtag that rocked the world of Twitter….and it hasn’t stopped since.

Week after week, #bikeschool becomes a trending hashtag on Thursday nights, but that’s only part of its success.  What makes it so amazing is the community that has taken it on as their own.

Whether it’s the rogue classes that occur on a rare week that there is no official class, or the fact that so many people base their weekly schedules around #bikeschool…there’s no denying that it has it’s own identity.

It’s funny, #bikeschool was started by three guys who had never met in person….and barely knew one another.  Nearly three years later, the three originators barely talk (if ever)….but #bikeschool remains stronger than ever.

For the first part of its life, I never missed a minute of #bikeschool…but as it’s grown and been able to stand alone, I don’t get to class as often as I should.  I love attending, but sometimes other things get in the way of me being there.

But it feels so great knowing that it has the power to live on its own and that it continues to bring in new followers all the time.  That is so cool.

So here’s to #bikeschool, the hashtag that has helped connect the cycling community on Twitter…and provided a ton of good times and memories along the way.

Thanks to our amazing community of #bikeschool classmates, and to @steviedexter and @twittyboyd who have been an incredible part of creating the monster that is #bikeschool.

Viva #bikeschool

Have you ever stopped to think of all the great things you’d include if you had the power to design your own city?  Well, if you’re a passionate cyclist you’d definitely want that city to cater to your love for the bike, and I know you’d make it as bicycle friendly as possible.

I asked our #bikeschool community this question when I hosted class recently and the responses were awesome.  One of the most interesting replies came from  Vince Marotte who shared this incredible video by Bill Nye.  In it, Bill explains all the cool bicycle related concepts and engineering he would incorporate into his ideal city of the future.

I love his wind tunnel idea, and totally agree that many of these concepts would be much cheaper than building more roads.  Here’s a few other ideas shared by my #bikeschool friends.  Have a look at what they would want to include in their ultimate cycling city and then share your ideas with us as well.

Your Turn

If you could build the ultimate cycling city, what kinds of things would it have?

Top image c/o hk.asia-city.com

If you don’t already know about the absolute biggest and greatest online meeting place for cyclists, then you most definitely need to check out #bikeschool in 2013.  If you don’t know the whole #bikeschool story and what it’s all about, have a quick read through our description of this weekly cycling Twitter chat.

#bikeschool really has taken on a life of its own, and we have the incredible online cycling community to thank for this.  Although I was one of three people who first created and launched this fun-loving cycling chat, I’ve sort of stepped down from the weekly organizing and hosting.  Our #bikeschool community is so strong and dedicated that even in the rare occasion that we cancel “class” for one week, the “students” go rogue and hold the chat anyway.  We’ve also brought on @twittyboyd who has been incredible and works each week at keeping things organized and making sure we always have a great “professor” leading the way.

It’s been a very long time since I ran the show, but last week I sat in as #bikeschool professor….and it reminded me just how amazing #bikeschool really is.

You just never know what will happen during class and our session last week was a perfect example of this.  In response to one of the questions about who people would like to come in as guest professor, @egggman suggested cyclo-cross pro cyclist, @AdamMyerson.  Within minutes, Adam responded and by the end of the night we had him dialled in to host class tomorrow night.

We were also powerful enough last week to get #bikeschool trending as a Twitter hashtag.  I’m not sure what it takes to make something like this happen, but we’ve done it a few times and all I know is it means we’re causing quite a stir in the twitterverse.

One of the coolest things about social media is it allows you to link up with like-minded people from all over the world.  What #bikeschool does is connects people with an incredible group of cyclists who like to joke around, have fun, and talk bikes (and tacos, and thong cyclists, and on and on).

Yeah, it is a cycling chat….but it’s far from a one hour discussion on bike mechanics and equipment.  In it’s almost 3 years of existence, the one thing #bikeschool has never been is boring.  The discussion is always fresh, exciting, fun, and interesting.

If it’s been a while since you’ve attended #bikeschool….I welcome you back.  I can guarantee that within the first couple minutes you’ll be kicking yourself for not coming back sooner.  If you’ve never been to #bikeschool before…stop asking “what is #bikeschool” and join in so you can see first hand what the buzz is all about.

#bikeschool on Twitter: Every Thursday at 9:00PM EST

Photo courtesy of Steephill.tv

Today will see the start of stage 3 of the 2012 Tour de France and the first time the riders will have hit French soil in the race.  This years edition of the race was always going to have a different feel to it due to high-profile riders missing out on the race and the forthcoming Olympics playing on some of the riders minds, dictating their training more than the Tour, something that very rarely happens.  Just a few days in to what is a race of epic length and proportions have we learnt anything we didn’t already know when back in Liège?

Time Trialists

The prologue through Liège was a mere 6.4km and I’m sure some of you commute to your place of work or walk to the local shops that are further away than that but it takes a special kind of rider to excel at these sorts of distances. For professional bike riders who are used to being on their bikes for between 4 and 8 hours, a 7-8 minute blast through the streets is something akin to Haile Gebrselassie taking on the 100m sprint at the Olympics. Cadel Evans was reported to have been warming up on his TT bike for around 2hrs prior to rolling down the start ramp and if you saw the amount of sweat dripping off him moments before climbing off his warm up bike you would not dispute that.

Cancellara, Wiggins, Boassen Hagen were all names that were mentioned as hot picks for the prologue win and along with Tejay Van Garderen and a surprising Sylvain Chavanel they made up the top 5. Tony Martin took a new wheel after a puncture which instantly pushed him down the leader board. On a longer TT course he is the type of rider who has the talent and power to claw that time back, but not on a course which took them just over 7 minutes to complete. Cadel Evans also ‘struggled’ with the distance and although only losing 17 seconds to Fabian Cancellara who will not be competing for the GC in Paris, he is already 10 seconds off the pace of Bradley Wiggins. For a race with so much TT’ing and the big mountains in the distance, 10 seconds can make all the difference. The biggest surprise of the day was Philippe Gilbert coming in just 13 seconds down. Not a recognised TT specialist, his super cool TT helmet and the Belgian crowds spurred him to a great ride which I’m sure he hoped to better the following day as the race stayed in Belgium.

With a lot more time trialling to come Tony Martin will have a chance to show the rest who is boss and the longer distances will suit more of the riders overall. The total length of time trialling in this years Tour has been a topic for discussion running up to the event and it is likely it will be one of the biggest factors that determines the winner.

Sprinters

Simply speaking… we still know that Super Sagan and The Manx Missile are fast to a redonkulous level. Sagan showed he’s not just about fast-twitch muscles and realised Fab was the wheel to take as the race ran into Seraing. Due to not being the younger man he once was, Cancellara is unable to merely ride away from the rest as he has done so many times before and although Sagan apologised after the race for refusing to take his turn on the run in and give Cancellara the better position, that’s racing and Cancellara shouldn’t have put himself in that position. Boassen Hagen put in a huge effort to bridge the gap and I’m sure he wont be backward about coming forward in situations like that as Cavendish won’t be around long and he needs to make sure he has good legs to take the stage wins he deserves. Realistically the steep ramp up to the finish was always going to be too much for the out-and-out sprinters and other than the aforementioned Sagan and Eddy-B, the rest of the top 12 places were taken up by what would be considered Puncheurs.

The profile and run in of Stage 2 was more of a stereotypical sprint stage and defined what is brilliant about Mark Cavendish. He doesn’t have the sprint train he might like there due to a split in team support for Bradley Wiggins but he won’t let that hold him back. He has always been a sprinter happy to be 15-20 riders back into the last bend. Watch the way he moves in any sprint. He jumps from wheel to wheel, constantly accessing who will give him the best tow further along before ditching them for the next one. It takes immense skill and vision to ride like that.  It’s similar to how Robbie McEwen plied his trade but I can’t think of anyone else who rides like that in the current Pro peloton. The tactics Mark uses mean you can never count him out and just because you don’t see him at the front of the race, doesn’t mean he wont beat you to the line. The drag race between him and Greipel was a beautiful thing to watch and had me screaming at the TV.

Although he takes immense pride in wearing the World Champion’s jersey, I can’t see Cavendish wanting to go all the way to Paris; the London 2012 Olympics are just too important. It should open up the Points competition (as long as Sagan lets the others get a look in) and we should see him fast exciting sprinting… let’s just get the nervous first few days out-of-the-way first and keep everyone upright!

Oh… and please somebody tell Sagan how to celebrate a win properly rather than looking like he is throwing some drunken shapes at 3.30am in a bar!

Photo courtesy of Steephill.tv

GC riders

It’s still very early to be sticking your neck out about the GC as there is still so much that could happen. None of the favourites have done anything stupidly silly yet to harm their chances but I’m sure Evans will be disappointed with the loss of 10 seconds on the opening day. He knows better than anyone that can make the difference. For Wiggins, coming second and NOT wearing the Yellow leaders jersey for the first few days is a good thing and knowing how calculated Team Sky can be, I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned that. The Yellow jersey comes with its own pressures and realistically, as long as you can keep tabs on your rivals, there is no need for you to be wearing it now if you want to wear it in Paris. With so much TTing to come it’s going to be difficult for someone other than Wiggins or Evans to win this race in my opinion, but who knows!? It’s a long way to Paris.

miscellaneous

Since Liège we have all learned that Team Sky look freakin’ awful in yellow helmets. What is not yet known is just how stupid others will look. Sadly I doubt Euskatel-Euskadi will ever reach the dizzy heights of the leading team to see just how horrible a yellow skid lid looks with an orange and green kit but I think we can all imagine! I’ve no idea why the teams decided to agree to this. It’s not necessary to know where every member of the team leading the teams classification is at every moment of the race, and if it was… that’s what they are wearing team kit for… to make them recognisable.  I suspect it has something to do with ASO trying to raise the profile of the team classification as it is generally seen as the lowest classification (if you don’t include the Lantern Rouge!) in terms of importance, behind the Younger Rider competition.

Still on the subject of helmets… WTF is going on with the Giro Air Attack! Granted the other teams have some ugly looking versions of their helmets with the aero inserts but this is just plain ridiculous… no… it’s redonkulous again! Here’s Bram Tankink who’s had all the great work of having a cool name undone by wearing this Giro monstrosity! He looks like Bart Simpson! It has had such an effect on his Euro-coolness that he has committed a cardinal sin of wearing the arms of his glasses on the inside of the straps!?! What is Giro up to!

Photo courtesy of cyclingweekly.co.uk

We also know, for the nth year running that Phil and Paul are utter morons. Don’t disagree with me just because you are American and have grown up on them spouting nonsensical drivel about Mr Armstrong for years. Two men who should know more about cycling and the Tour than any others consistently make huge factual errors and commentating clangers the size of an artistic tractor in a field made out of giant matchboxes (*nudge* “Paul, I think they are hay bales…”). They make me mad enough not to watch sometimes so if you want to defend them you best come ready with a damn good argument because I will be documenting their shenanigans this month and it wont be pretty!  If you want proper English language commentary, find a feed for Eurosport and listen to David Harman and Carlton Kirby.

Finally, spare a thought for Didi the Devil who is not at this years Tour de France but will be watching from a hospital bed. No he’s not having his ankle springs re-coiled, it’s actually some nasty sounding brain surgery… So get better soon Didi… the slopes of the Alps won’t be the same without you!

Photo courtesy of http://www.pbkblog.com

Stevie

As part of our continuing series of inspirational guest writing we have a timely piece about the personal battles people face with parts of the Tour de France.  Having suffered a stroke, Kim battled with courage and strength to take on her personal challenge at the 2009 Tour de France.

“…the nastiest hill I ever climbed”

I cried today while riding the bike. Why? Cuz I made it to the top of Cole de Romme—a Cat 1 climb. It wasn’t pretty, I took a hike with my bike many times, don’t think I rode an entire km without stopping at least 2 times, but the point is, there are no mountains in Austin, so I rode like I had trained…up a hill, rest on the downhill repeat. Only this time it was ‘pedal up the mountain, stop and walk a bit, take a picture, repeat’. Back in Nov 15, 2007 I couldn’t walk and today I made it to the top of Cole de Romme! You do the math… 8.8 km from elevation of 502m  to an elevation of 1297 m! There’s about 3 feet to 1 meter!

I took my pic (below) at 5 km to the finish, then again at 1 km, by then I figured I would make it. I didn’t ride the entire last km, I stopped at least 3 times! The top was so crowded, I probably inched the bike across the line. I found someone to take my pic, then went over the line, then started crying. It was at this point that I realized I was going to be ok, I can survive a stroke & continue to live life.

I rode down about 3 km to a spot above a hairpin turn. I could see the riders coming up (a lot faster than moi) then, I would turn around and take pics. Haven’t looked at the pics yet, but I did get to see the Devil and the Norway chicken.

The race was incredible and in the words of Lance Butler, “…these guys are professional”

I think my overall time to reach the summit was about 2 hours.(I’ll let you do the math on the mph…remember I hiked with a bike quite a bit.) It didn’t take me that long to go downhill, rode the brakes the entire time down…the thought of road rash to match my 5” x 3” bruise on my butt will slow ya down! (the previous day I slipped on some stairs and landed on my right butt cheek..the blood thinners must have still been in my system, because the bruise is huge.

Mt. Ventoux is out of the question, it was amazing how long it took to go 5k and to do that 5 times on a steeper grade, not worth it.

I’m a very fortunate brain injury survivor. Thank you Alison and Mom! love ya!

Col de Romme, 8.8 kilometers, average grade nine percent. I think Lance Armstrong said, “Col de Romme, the nastiest hill I ever climbed.”

Thank you to Kim for sharing her story. I’m sure many people reading this will know someone who has been affected by a stroke and it’s a heartening story. Congratulations Kim, hopefully with some LovingTheBike and #bikeschool help we can get you scaling Mt Ventoux!

Stevie

As promised, we have some brilliantly inspirational stories coming up in a series of posts from the #bikeschool & LovingTheBike.com communities. First up is Part 1 of  ‘Century’ by Aaron Madrid (@Aaronthestrong). Our thanks go out to Aaron for putting a load of effort into his writing, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy what he has to say.

Joining the Century Club- Part 1

This past Saturday I accomplished one of my major cycling goals… I rode a century.  For those that might not be up on the “lingo” a century means 100 miles. Yes, I know…I am awesome.  Forgive me if I sound a bit egotistical, but as I write this it is still only a couple days since the big ride, and I feel like I am pretty much invincible.  Those that have been there will likely understand, and the rest of you can just think I’m egotistical for a bit.  For me it wasn’t just 100 miles that made it such an accomplishment and memorable day, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  I’m writing this for you for two reasons; 1) everyone can and should feel like I did crossing the finish line that day. 2) If I write this out then maybe I will quit talking about it to everyone I know and some of my friends will hang around me again (but probably not).

So you want to ride a century, huh?  Well I have news for you, my friend, you can…and you will.  I would like to first take this time to remind you of who I am. My name is Aaron and I started riding a bike the week I became a father.  I had been talking about needing to get in shape ever since my wife got pregnant. When my daughter was born in February of 2011 I weighed 320 pounds. I started a blog called TheVerbingNoun.Tumblr.com that I don’t keep up much anymore, but if you go to that site and dig you can find my first posts where I talk about how exciting it was to ride my first 10 miles at 12 miles an hour.  Now I weigh 230 pounds and I’m writing to you today to talk about the 100 miles that I just rode at an average speed of 20 miles per hour.  My wife and I both work full time jobs and enjoy all the stresses that come with them as well as being new parents.  I am telling you all of this so that you don’t try to give any excuses as to why you can’t accomplish this, or any other goal.  The first step is just wanting it bad enough.

I know, I know… you are saying “Aaron, that’s all fine and good with the positive thinking, but get real!”  There are some simple things to do to help you along the way.  You know you want to do this, but you don’t want to just go out and ride 100 miles on your own, that’s no fun!  Find an event!  A quick search on Google should provide you with some local or at least close, sponsored rides.  I find that most clubs hold sponsored rides at some point during the year which provides a great opportunity to meet your local club anyways.  Building a support group is truly critical to long term goal accomplishment, in my opinion.  I have recently discovered, with much glee, that many breweries also hold or are affiliated with some truly amazing rides.  Let me tell you this, nothing is better than a delicious craft beer after a long ride!  Ok nothing is more delicious than a craft beer period…but I digress, this isn’t LovingtheBeer (though I would totally write for that site too, Darryl).  Events will provide you with pre-planned routes.  Your route can really make a difference because 100 miles of climbing is a lot different from 100 miles of flat roads. Most of the time these pre-planned routes will contain detailed profiles of the entire route, so take advantage of them!

I chose the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure because their cause is one that is close to my heart.  There are countless charities that offer similar such rides all over the country.  Not only are you given an opportunity to ride, but you can raise money and awareness for a cause you believe in along the way. Taking this approach is a great way to give yourself an extra push, because once you sign up for something like that, it’s not just about you anymore, it’s about something bigger.  Take your time and choose an event that means something to you.  As you have undoubtedly already learned (or will soon as you ride more) mental power and heart are almost as important as physical training.  A ride you truly believe in will only help you focus and dig deep for that extra power. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time before the event.  My training plans will be useless to you if you don’t get out much and you choose a ride that takes place tomorrow.  The nice thing about many of these events is that they often offer multiple routes for various levels or riders.  I actually rode the Tour de Cure in 2011, but only did about 20 miles.  Trying the event last year allowed me to know what I was getting myself into this year and helped me visualize my goal.

Look out for the next part of Aaron’s write up coming soon. Leave any comment’s you have for Aaron below or catch him over on Twitter – @Aaronthestrong

Stevie

]]> http://lovingthebike.com/bikeschool/bikeschool-joining-the-centuary-club-by-aaron-madrid/feed 8 http://lovingthebike.com/bikeschool/bikeschool-your-ventoux http://lovingthebike.com/bikeschool/bikeschool-your-ventoux#comments Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:00:41 +0000 stevie http://lovingthebike.com/?p=9381 Share/Bookmark

I know that many of the #bikeschool family sent messages and Tweets of support and then congratulations to our friend Aaron Madrid (@Aaronthestrong) as he took on and conquered his first 100 mile cycle ride this weekend.  Riding as part of the Tour de Cure at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aaron achieved one of the top goals that amateur cyclists look towards and will soon be sharing his experiences with the world here at LovingTheBike.com.

Aaron’s story got the staffers at LTB towers thinking about the magnitude of achievements that are completed every day all over the world by the ordinary-Joe cyclist.  Whether it be a particularly difficult sporting challenge (or series of challenges), a physical challenge (check out Art Jones!) or just trying to find the time between working and family life we want to give you this platform to tell your story.

Take a moment and think about your life.  Think about the things you have done on your bike and the things you would like to do in the future.  Now remember that there are many other people just like you thinking the same thing, needing just that little something to push them to achieve their own goals.

We will be running a special series of posts from the readers of LovingTheBike.com celbrating their achievements collectively and inspiring the world.  If you have thought about something in particular whilst reading this post but are not sure what to write, get in touch and we can help, but above all please tell your story.

Get in touch

If you would like to write something about an achievement or goal, however long or short it is, get in touch with myself or Darryl using the email addresses below.  I know there are some great stories out there that need to be told, now you have the platform.

We are both looking forward to this series to get in touch and help inspire others.

Stevie@lovingthebike.com

Darryl@lovingthebike.com

If you read my #bikeschool post from last week you’ll not be surprised to hear that I have not been anywhere near my bike this week and it’s already starting to send me a little bit crazy! I keep seeing guys and gals riding around on all sorts of bikes, not just carbon racers and I think to myself, “I want to be part of that”. I remember that feeling from some years ago when I got my first road bike and hopefully some of these tips will assist you getting out with the local chain gangs in the coming months if you have been holding off riding with others. If you are a regular group rider please do add your own tips and tricks at the bottom in the comments section.

Be not afraid

Firstly let me dispel the greatest of myths that riders who are stronger/more experienced than you will not want to ride with you because you are a ‘rookie’. This is just not true. Of course there are people who may act like this from time to time but that should be attributed to them being a human, rather than a cyclist! As long as you make intelligent and informed decisions you should have no issues with riding in a new group of people and I hope if you are just starting your cycling life or are concerned about riding in a group the following tips and tricks will help. These are not ‘rules’ as such, just helpful hints. There are the well-known Velominati: V Rules but not all of these are truly practical and should be taken in the manner that they were created!

• Find the right ride – Depending on your area there will be a plethora of ways to find group rides of varying length and difficulty for you to join. If you’ve been out on your own you may have spotted a cafe or two or a bike shop that has groups of cyclists chilling out and enjoying a coffee. Actually talking to people (face to face not through Twitter or Facebook!) can give you some of the best answers as to where you should meet and when the rides go out. Local club websites almost always display when and where they ride out from and importantly will often say whether they are ‘no drop’ rides meaning they ride as slow as the slowest rider. These are great rides to start out on.

• Be honest – I fell seriously foul of not being honest with myself and fellow riders years ago when I first starting going out with a local club. If you have never done more than 40 miles in one ride don’t try and kid yourself that a steady 100 mile round trip with one cafe stop is possible right now. Chat to your fellow riders and tell them where you are in your development as a rider, you may be surprised to find others are in a similar position or some may be turning home early due to other commitments. Or they may simply be able to point you in the right direction at a suitable point so you can make a round trip of a sensible distance. Everyone will feel awkward if you plow on well passed your comfort zone and have to be pushed home! (All that being said, don’t ever be afraid to challenge yourself and push the limits in order to improve.)

• All the gear no idea – It’s no secret that cycling can be an expensive past time and you can ‘buy’ speed to a certain degree, but thankfully it still takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be a strong cyclist. Don’t be fooled by some people who appear to look like a Pro cyclist but seem to pedal squares and never take their turn on the front. They probably just have too much money and not enough dedication and are not the sort of riders you want to model yourself on.

• Older & wiser – On the other end of the scale from those above are the riders who have been doing this since before bread came sliced. The French word ‘souplesse’ is a descriptive word to describe the beautiful ease of a perfect pedal stroke honed over time. When you see it you know it and these are the riders you want to emulate. Don’t be afraid to copy everything they do (without getting weird!) as their experience keeps them safe as well as improves their riding. Drink when they drink. Eat when they eat. Follow their lines through the bends. Pace yourself against them. You don’t have Jacques Anquetil to learn from, but you do have Mike, who is a semi-retired accountant and a bloomin’ classy bike rider.

• Baggage – I generally take too much food with me on a ride as you never know when you or someone else is going to have an emergency. But don’t ever expect someone to give you food on a ride just because you haven’t got any. That’s a brilliant way to be ostracised. Take food in whatever form you prefer and take at least one bottle of liquid, again in something you are going to be able to drink. Stick $10/£10 in your pocket too as you never know when you might need it for all manner of things. Other than that, a spare inner tube and a pump (hand or CO2) are ESSENTIAL. Some groups won’t let you ride without a spare tube and pump. Above all you must ensure you are self-sufficient

• Pride in your ride – Take a few moments before you leave the house to check you have no major creaks and bangs (on your bike and yourself!) It’s only polite and respectful that your fellow riders shouldn’t have to hear your clunks and groans all the way around. If you present a slick, professional persona people are more likely to treat you in that way… just don’t push it too far as described above!

• Be active – The best way for you to improve and get stronger is to ride with people who are stronger than you are. Make sure you take your turn at the front and work as an active member of the group. Everyone has a shared interest in how the group interacts and works together and together you can make it a safer, more enjoyable ride.

With a little bit of thought and preparation you can make the big step of heading out with a large group of cyclists for the first time much, much easier. I hope that the tips here will inspire you to get out and enjoy the summer to come and please leave any other tips or feedback below.

Yours in sport,

Stevie

I began writing this post in the ‘departure lounge’ waiting room of the local hospital, and if you’re reading this… The British NHS (National Health Service) aint all that bad!

You may or may not have noticed that my corner of the internet and social media world has been quite quiet of late and I make no apologies for this.  A tough month of job changes and close family bereavements has been finished by an operation in hospital on what is known in clever circles as ‘singular oesteochondroma’ – or a bony lump!  It’s not serious or life threatening but spoils my visual form on the bike so it needs sorting!

The top of my left tibia looks like I have lop-sided calves but this is soon to be sorted out… As long as the surgeons pick the correct leg… Its ok though they’ve added a big black arrow to my leg to ensure they remember which one to cut!  That brims me with confidence!  At least it’s free.  I’d be interested to know what 2 surgical consultations, 2 hour surgery and an overnight stay in hospital would cost in those countries who rely on private medical insurance.

It has been a hard month but its been made much easier due to the understanding and kind nature of my dear friend and ‘net boss’ Darryl.  Lots of things are going on behind the scenes of Lovingthebike.com – that calm, serene, swan-like exterior above the water is backed up by legs going supersonic underwater, so I appreciate the ‘time off’ that I’ve been able to take.

But sitting here waiting for the operation (note I’m still waiting!) made me remember something special about cycling.  It’s hot and sunny outside, the best weather this part of the UK has experienced in 2012 and I’m inside wearing a white and blue floral dashiki and one stylish DVT sock.  The next 2-4 weeks of my spring/summer cycling routine seem to be out of the window.  Form will be lost, rides will be missed and beautiful weather will not be used to its full pedalling potential.  But I’ve realised cycling will always be there.  Yes I might miss those weeks of ‘training’, but I’m not a racer (despite what I keep trying to put my body through against my stronger pals) so I’m not losing anything tangible.  My riding pals will still be there in a month and I’ll be back at the start of that ever so interesting journey of improving form and self discovery.  Which is a good thing.

Cycling is a way of life and won’t be going anywhere regardless of operations, recuperation time or any of life’s other tribulations.  Soon, the wash of anaesthetic will vanish and I’ll back at the start of that journey with the moments and emotions of May behind me.  It wont be a moment too soon.

It’s been a while since we brought up some of the cool and interesting stories that come up through the #bikeschool hashtag, so here’s another edition of #bikeschool happenings.

What do you think about?

One of the questions asked by guest professor @koifla at last weeks #bikeschool was “What can you think about that makes your ride better? Faster? Easier? Funner?”  We had all sorts of answers…some real, some not so real.  I thought it was an interesting question and we’d love to keep the answers flowing, so feel free to leave your response in the comments below.

Bike Mower

You might have seen one of these posted on social media before, but it got quite a reaction on Twitter when posted by @twittyboyd last week, so here it is in case you’ve never seen it.  Yeah, you want one don’t you?

#bikeschool Kickstarter

Our #bikeschool mascot, The Taco Making Robot mentioned this week that he’s invented something pretty darn cool and will be hitting y’all up on Kickstarter very soon.  Watch for it.

Road Bike Stunts [Video]

@aaronthestrong shared a cool video with the #bikeschool followers.  With all the Giro and AToC action that has been going on, you might want to take a break from watching the pro riders and check out the wicked stunts this guy can do on a carbon road bike:

We’ve Got a Winner

Our friends at @Hydrapak and @GUEnergyLabs put together a great prize pack for us including a Wooly Mammoth Bottle, Soft Flask, and Chocolate Smoothie Recovery Brew.  We had people tweet out a photo of themselves holding up a sign saying why they need to win and the winner (picked randomly) was @Numberrr2. There were so many great responses and we thank everyone who shared their photos with us….including this one from @takeabike.  Thanks also to Hyrdapak and GU.

There’s always something happening over on Twitter, so be sure to keep a constant eye on the #bikeschool hashtag….and, of course, join us on Thursday nights at 9:00PM EST for the real deal.