Olympic pursuit king Bradley Wiggins has moved to end doubts surrounding his superb form on the Tour de France by insisting his performances are not drugs-related.

Wiggins started and finished the eighth stage of the race Saturday in fifth place overall at 46 seconds behind overnight race leader Rinaldo Nocentini, who is being trailed by both Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong.

As part of a team aiming to put Christian Vande Velde into race contention after his fifth place finish last year, Wiggins has so far stolen most of the American’s limelight.

A time trial specialist whose background is in track, Wiggins’ new status as an emerging all-rounder has prompted some surprise at the Tour.

The Londoner believes a strict diet and a “lot of racing” have helped get him in supreme physical shape, but he insists that he is not using drugs – and that his ability to survive the killer climbs shows the peloton is cleaner as well.

“I know that some people think I’m on drugs. I know how the sport is,” said Wiggins, who won two pursuit gold medals in Beijing last year.

“The sport changed so much in the past three years. I was inspired by Christian’s performance last year and maybe I realized that on this Tour you don’t have to be on drugs to do well.”

Wiggins’ improving climbing form emerged most notably on the difficult mountain stage to Alpe di Siusi on the Giro d’Italia last month.

Despite finishing 1:47 behind stage winner Denis Menchov, Wiggins finished over a minute ahead of seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong.

And in the lead-up to the Tour, he had a simple philosophy.

“I’ve just ridden my bike. Ride my bike, eat less. It’s quite simple really,” he said Saturday.

Now two kilos lighter than he was at the Giro, Wiggins aims to maintain that form until the crucial third week so that Vande Velde, who crashed out of the Giro injured, can race himself into yellow jersey contention.

“I just want to keep helping Christian and be out there as long as possible. The Alps are going to be more important so I’m trying not to get too carried away with anything,” he added.

“My personal objective before the Tour was to finish in top 20, but we’ll see how it goes.

“I’m just going to keep plugging away, taking it day by day. I’d like to get through the Pyrenees in the same condition, then get through the second week – I’ve got two arms and two legs like everyone else – and we’ll see how it goes in the third week.

“I believe I’m in good physical condition to do something in this Tour.”

Asked again when he had found his climbing legs, he added: “I never found them really, I’ve always had them. I just stopped track (cycling) and lost weight. The rest is science.

“I’m two kilos lighter than I was at the Giro, so I’m kind of putting out the same power.”

Finish the story here.

Next week we embark for Donner Lake and then to the Western Sierra for 5 days hiking up to Seven Gables. So today I started collecting my hiking gear for the trip. As I surveyed the collection I must say I was pretty stoked. For the past 10 years I have slowly collected a handful of items from Patagonia that make the journey into the backcountry warmer and more enjoyable.

Take a stroll through their store and enjoy the gear.

Exclusive galleries from two new books by Jan Heine: “The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles” and “The Competition Bicycle.”

Courtesy of Outside Magazine

Paris in the years following World War II was a city overrun with cycles. The costs of owning and operating an automobile were prohibitive, so a bicycle meant everything: freedom, efficiency, travel, and, for many, a means of transportation key to making a living. (See the classic 1948 film The Bicycle Thief.) Many of these bikes were custom masterpieces, workhorses that doubled as pleasure craft.

Legendary constructeur René Herse built not only the frameset but crankset, brakes, stems, and so on as well—and all of it by hand. Of course, such a bicycle might cost you three months’ salary, but it was an investment that soon paid for itself.

I’ve dreamed of seeing a Herse in the flesh for years, but where, when, how? Luckily, the world now has The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles (Rizzoli, $50), written by Bicycle Quarterly editor Jan Heine, with gorgeous photographs by Jean-Pierre Pradères. Inside the large-format book, there’s pure porn for the cyclerati (and anyone interested in design and engineering), plus an utterly fascinating history lesson on one of the sporting world’s most beloved machines. You’ll find bikes from Herse and contemporaries, as well as custom rigs from as early as 1909 and as late as 2003.

Finish the story at Outside Magazine

Expires: July 15, 2009
Use promo code: 250624

If you’ve never checked out TheNorthFace.com click the banner above and have a look around. Lot’s of fun gear to browse and free shipping always helps when shopping.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Lance Armstrong and Frankie Andreu are speaking again.

In what seems to be part of Armstrong’s goodwill Tour de France, the seven-time champion specifically asked to have Andreu, a Versus commentator, assigned the network’s Astana detail at this year’s race.

Former teammates and close friends at Motorola and U.S. Postal Service, Armstrong and Andreu had a widely documented falling out and had not spoken since 2004.

Andreu told VeloNews he was surprised when Versus producers on site in Monaco informed him that Astana had requested he conduct interviews with Armstrong and the team, which is managed by Andreu’s former boss and close Armstrong friend Johan Bruyneel.

“I got a phone call Saturday morning that I’m on the Astana detail and in charge of interviewing Lance and the rest of the team,” Andreu said. “I was definitely surprised and shocked by it. They told me Astana had called over and requested it. I didn’t understand why or what was going on, but Versus said to go over and do it.”

Finish the story here.

Armstrong and Frankie Interviewed by Velo News

We know many of you watch the tour at night so we will keep our tour updates to a minimum. But I just wanted to take a moment and sing, yes sing, the praises of my favorite Tour de France rider. Fabian Cancellara rocks. Winner of the Tour de Suisse and Gold Medal winner in the Olympics. Cancellara is strong, humble and does not have the brash American attitude that is getting old. I mean the American is getting old but still brash. Thankfully he finally apologized for slamming Christian and Sastre.

Anyway. Enjoy the tour de france.

Redondo Beach, California – Saturday, July 11, 2009

Hennessey’s Taverns of California is proud to host the Hennessey’s Paddleboard Festival. This year we have an exciting new 9-mile race course. The race begins and ends at Avenue I in Redondo Beach, with the Body Glove yacht leading the way! This promises to be a fun-filled event with top competitors hailing from across the United States. This is an open-ocean, near-shore race. Support boats and lifeguard jet skis will be in the water for your safety. Additionally, we have a new course for the stand up paddlers, as well as the Junior Lifeguard races.

In the race tradition of Hennessey’s Taverns and the Southern California Paddleboard Club, a full-blown luau will follow the race behind HT Grill on Catalina and Avenue I in Redondo Beach. Come listen to great music and enjoy the award ceremony, plate lunch, and massive raffle immediately following the race. Family and friends who would like to share in the luau are welcome to do so for an additional charge.

Course: The race begins at Avenue I in Redondo Beach at 7:30 AM.
Water start and beach finish.

From the June 2009 issue of Runner’s World

No running shoe is perfect for everyone. That’s why we rely on hundreds of real runners and extensive mechanical testing at the RW Shoe Lab to evaluate each pair we review. The results are summarized in the chart on the facing page and in the reviews and tester comments that follow.

Because shoes need to both dampen the shock of heel-strike and allow for the natural motion of the foot, we carefully measure each shoe’s cushioning, flexibility, and responsiveness. To make these guides more useful, we’ve changed how we display the test results—longer bars in the chart now indicate higher performance. Yet our goal remains the same: to help you find the best shoe for you.

Read on here to find the best shoe for you.

This is a video with Hal Koerner, the winner of the 2009 Western States Endurance Run. Hal is a Patagonia athlete.

The Western States Endurance Run is one of the oldest ultra trail events in the world and certainly one of the most challenging. The Run is conducted along the Western States Trail starting at Squaw Valley, California, and ending in Auburn, California, a total of 100 miles. The trail ascends from the Squaw Valley floor (elevation 6,200 feet) to Emigrant Pass (elevation 8,750 feet), a climb of 2,550 vertical feet in the first 4½ miles. From the pass, following the original trails used by the gold and silver miners of the 1850’s, runners travel west, climbing another 15,540 feet and descending 22,970 feet before reaching Auburn.

Most of the trail passes through remote and rugged territory, accessible only to hikers, horses and helicopters.

HT The Cleanest Line for the story.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Photo by Dave Silver

Info compliments of BC BikeRace

Whistler Creekside was thriving with energy as the seventh and final stage of the BC Bike Race rolled into town.

370 racers from more than 16 countries have tested their bodies, their bikes and, in some cases, their friendships this week while pedaling through more than 350 kilometers of singletrack in south western British Columbia.

The final Whistler stage was a mere 30km long, roughly half the distance of the other stages in the race. In speaking to racers after Stage 6 in Squamish, many were relieved to have less distance to cover on the final day…the finisher’s medal was within reach.

It turned out that the shorter distance was not indicative of the amount of effort required to complete the final stage. Day 7 course designer, Grant Lamont, knows the Whistler trail network like no one else and took advantage of that inside track to create a course that racers would remember.

From the 10am Creekside start, racers rode up some seriously tough, steep climbs right to the top of an aptly named trail, “See Colours & Puke.” From there, they worked their way into trails like Tunnel Vision, which has some challenging sections that some riders will have elected to walk.

It was not a sit back and relax kind of day, but it did allow many riders to realize their skills progression through the week. And there was an endless stream of smiles, cheers, and tears of joy as riders crossed the finish line anywhere from 1 hour 46 minutes to 4 hours and 50 minutes later.

Each rider that crossed the line received either a coveted Finisher medal – if they completed all seven days within the cutoff range; or a coveted Participant medal – if they completed some of the stages but not all.

This year there were some great stories that developed within the race – especially in the Team of Two Open Men category. The intense battle between Seamus McGrath & Chris Sheppard (Jamis / Santa Cruz) and Kris Sneddon & Barry Wicks (Team Kona) was fun to watch unfold.

It was an unbelievable week that staff and participants are not soon to forget. In fact, many teams expressed strong interest at the prospect of returning to BC Bike Race for 2010.

Registration will open on July 6th for the 2010 BC Bike Race – with a limited early-bird special that’s not to be missed: CAD$1499 + GST per person. www.bcbikerace.com for more details.

For full results, including Stage 7, check the online results posting.