Tuesday, August 5

NashvilleCyclist.com sets record!

NashvilleCyclist.com has set a record for the number of total visits in the month of July 2008. Over 3,500 unique computer visitors clicked on NashvilleCyclist.com a whopping 11,867 times!

We have enjoyed a steady progression in our readership over the last four years and have the statistics to prove it. To nearly reach the 12,000 mark in visits is pretty awesome, and I'm certain in due time we'll shatter that number. The 3,500 unique visitors is not a record actually as there was one month in 2007 when we reached over 4,000, but on average they clicked on the site less times. While our readership comes mostly from the US we are also huge in Great Britain, Latvia and Ukraine to name a few. We get quite a statistical breakdown each day that lets us know just about anything and everything, so keep on clicking and enjoying the site!

Thanks to all who keep coming back as we certainly appreciate your support. We hope to provide you with enough timely and relevant cycling information to satisfy your demand.

Nathan Brown Wins Tour de l'Abitibi 2008!
Memphis native wins one of the premier juniors cycling event in North America. This link shows a great photo of Nathan on the podium as he's declared the "Holy Champion" of the event. Nathan won the 17.6km stage three time trial which gave him the advantage he needed for the overall. In fact, the stage three podium was nothing but Americans! Go HERE to Cyclingnews to see complete results of the event.

Congratulations Nathan!


“Naked” officials endorse a cover-up
I know it's hot and gas prices are high, but stripping off your clothes and riding to protest doesn't seem to be the right answer! St. Louis is far ahead of Nashville in terms of their cycling culture. It helps that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers up the opportunity to 10 Speed, but here in Nashville you'll have to settle for NashvilleCyclist.com! Then again, I might have as many or more online readers as the Tennessean.

GasBuddy.com
I found this site from one of the local television news stations and found it interesting. Tennessee's gas prices are among the 10 lowest states while it appears there's a gas war going on in Jefferson City. Whatever you do you shouldn't buy gas at the Exxon on the square in Lebanon, wow, which is only 1k away from my office! If you've been paying attention you'll know that energy prices are dropping to the $120 per barrel range, but despite the approximate 17% drop in barrel price the cost at the pump hasn't dropped as much.

Is race participation really affected by these gas prices or are there other factors at play? I think it plays a small role, but shouldn't be blamed entirely. The dreaded word "inflation" still hasn't become part of our daily lexicon even though it should. When income has become stagnate along with increases in every day staples it's going to change our habits. It would be different if you could point to one thing, but right now the American consumer and family provider has a target on his or her back with everybody taking aim.

Carroll has been practicing in Europe
This could be one of the best photos ever. Congrats Katharine!

Jeff "big guns" Hopkins at Charlotte
Be careful the next time you shake his hand. Somebody has been throwing the weights around this summer!

A massive pile up with one to go
Is there anything worse than this as a bike racer? You race all out for an hour or so and it comes down to less than 1k to go, then boom, you're on the deck! Half the pack on the deck, wow. Which is why all you hear people tell you is to race near the front and stay away from the middle or the back of the group at the end. There are no guarantees, but your odds are safer near the front.

We told ya it was a big payout
Though if you stay out of trouble near the front you may be taking home one of these.....albeit for a lower amount! $28,000 for first place payout is unbelievable.

The Tour of Elk Grove - a Ben Ross gallery
Our very own Nashvillian Ben Ross once again has his photos within the VeloNews online gallery. He snagged about 50 photos that made it, and as usual caught some great action shots. You can also see quite a bit of Ben's work on NashvilleCyclist.com's photo gallery and at his website at www.BenRossPhotography.com. By the looks of his website we can expect Ben to announce a new business venture, so stay tuned.

U.S. cyclists fly into China with face masks
Could they not get one quote from any of the "offending" cyclists? The story is within them and their decision to wear it and not so much as the response from officials.

Man Breaks Underwater Cycling World Record
He says it was tough because he ran into more mud than he expected. Yo knucklehead, knock knock, you were under water!

Bridge climber disrupts downtown traffic
So there we are racing this past Sunday at LP Field in downtown Nashville when some guy decides to climb the Shelby Street bridge. News crews came out and the cops blocked off the bridge as they did their best to talk him down. Turns out the news crews would not show the report in their newscasts because they didn't want to give it or him publicity. Ok, then why are you there? Which leads me to believe they would only report it if he had actually jumped into the Cumberland River. Either it's news or it's not. Obviously the guy has some mental issues, but since when has news stations censored their news reporting to avoid copy cat criminals?

With that strategy they should only report good news and fail to mention any homicides, robberies, shootings, crashes, etc. Remember when car jackings and ATM robberies first started? We had never heard of it before, but when it happened the first time it was all over the news afterwards. As predicted a "rash" of car jackings and ATM robberies began to happen all over the country. Coincidence or did the newscasts finally catch up with reality?

How Garmin-Chipotle keeps its riders fresh
I'm a little late writing about this, but their approach is very progressive and obviously works. Allen Lim is the brainchild behind these kinds of ideas. If I'm not mistaken it was Lim who worked with Floyd Landis and made the suggestion he pour cold water bottles over his head during the stage he destroyed everybody in 2006. His logic was what if Floyd was racing with a core temperature that made it feel like the mid-70s outside while the rest of the pack raced in the real temperature of the mid-90s. Lim's idea makes sense if you think about competing in an early spring race versus a hot summer race.

The real question is does this kind of body temperature manipulation have any effect on testosterone levels? According to this abstract in the European Journal of Applied Physiology there appears to be no link, but their study wasn't conducted on a athlete of the caliber of Floyd Landis on a day when he's going at threshold for over five hours. My choice of keywords to find information may not have been the right combination. If any of you come up with a valuable search on this topic I'd love to read about it.

Trying to Avoid the Negative of a Positive Test
The former WADA chief Dick Pound is advising the Chinese on how to avoid the embarrassment. At least one country out there is more concerned with image and respect than they are medals; or so they say.

Because the last thing the Chinese want to see one of their athletes experience is.....

IOC Strips Gold Medals From 2000 Olympics U.S. Relay Team
Sooner or later the truth comes out. Kids, pay attention. It's worth noting three out of the four relay runners have been caught for doping.

Ok, enough links and opinion. It's time for you all to catch up with me for a change. Scroll up, scroll down and read it all.

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