Good weekend! Headed to Bethany beach in lower DE, just above Ocean City, MD. Left the bikes at home in an effort to recover some before racing goes full speed (although full speed will be half speed this year). Anyways, beautiful weather on Friday. In past years we have met in Milton for the Dog Fish Head brewery tour. Man if you never have been, I would say go. Follow the tour from Milton and head the the pub at Rehoboth. The year I was there, the secret tour beer was Raison D'Xtra 16 % monster. Even if it was only 3 oz after a few, i had a buzz. So back to this year. Nice weather, so we went to the beach. I decided it was nice enough to hop in even though it was 60 degrees out and 50 degree water, but the sun was shining.
After the beach a couple for the guys went into town to play some Hoops. I wrestled in high school, but I am a good height and can jump. Our game of 21 turn into an all out 5 on 5 with the delawarian locals. My one cousin nearly brawling, had me being a peace maker. My legs still hurt from running and jumping on hard top.
Onto Friday Happy hour, hor dors, beer, cosmos, what ever you like. Saturday was wind blown and rain all day. didn't stop the kids from wanting to be out, from a morning bike ride on rt 1 with 3 kids and my dads 10 speed, to building sand castle in the heavy wind and rain. All went down well, I won a game of poker that night, drank a few choice brew, some of which, home brews, big dinner, all was well, Sunday is easter and the bunny thing is still fun for the kids so they awoke ready for some sweets and treats. While loading the car for the return trip, I left the doors open and the interiors on. After a nice noon time meal, we were about to hit the road when we found out the battery was done. After some time with jumpers 30 minutes or more, women and dad antagonizing me the hole time, with 3A on the way the car started and we headed home. Home just in time for Master,flyers, Roubaix, phils and a couple of beers. Roubaix is such a cool race. And the flemish really seemed to be out in numbers, Thor Husvof (sp) went down hard and Boonen cranked it home. Too bad flerys lost their chance for home ice, and I learned you don't have to be thin to be a good golfer. Too bad for Perrry and Chambell both played a great tournament. That is the quick and dirty, which I am not correcting. Caught up in a web at work. so, enjoy, wet and wild wednesday, I sure am looking forward to some muddin.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Not Made in the USA
well here is the latest... maybe the last...factory made bike made in the USA. Buy out...sell out the American way... at least that is what it has seemed to become.
*taking from cycling news
Cannondale shuttering US production
By Gary Boulanger, US editor, Bikeradar.com
Cannondale is undergoing more changes Photo ©: Kirsten Robbins
Dorel Industries, parent company of Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, Mongoose and Sugoi, announced it was consolidating locations in the United States, while phasing out production in its Bedford, Pennsylvania factory.
"Today is the beginning of a very exciting period for Dorel's Recreational/Leisure business," said Jeff McGuane, president of Cannondale Sports Group (CSG) North America. McGuane, who has been with Cannondale since 1994 and most recently was President ofCSG International, was named to his new post last month.
Dorel purchased Cannondale and Sugoi from Pegasus Partners for nearly US$200 million cash in early February 2008. Cannondale, an early pioneer of production aluminium bikes, began importing carbon frames from Taiwan in 2007.
The number of Bedford employess will shrink from 300 to 100 by late 2010, as Cannondale transitions 100 percent of its production to its new facility in Taichung, Taiwan. The Bedford facility will be used for final bicycle and Headshok assembly, some CNC machining, testing and quality control, bicycle warranty repair, inside sales/service, distribution and customer support/administration (including a new call center on-site).
The Lake Forest, California and Longmont, Colorado facilities, home to GT and its testing facilities for years, will close as part of the consolidation. All high-end jobs will be based out of Cannondale's original Bethel, Connecticut facility, with some current employees being offered jobs in Connecticut.
Pacific Cycles, based in Madison, Wisconsin, will focus strictly on mass market bikes, where its roots lie since Chris Hornung began selling bikes from the Orient in the mid 1970s. Dorel bought Pacific for US$375 million in 2004.
According to Dorel, all North American product development, marketing and business management functions for all four cycling brands (Cannondale, Schwinn, GT and Mongoose) will move to Bethel, within the newly named Cycling Sports Group (formerly the Cannondale Sports Group).
"Our vision is to create the most innovative and admired company in the recreation and leisure marketplace, and to become a global leader, which is why the Dorel segment was established in the first place," said Robert Baird, president of Dorel's Recreational/Leisure segment. "The strategy for transforming that vision into reality requires a unified, collaborative, and highly engaged workforce, relentlessly committed to innovation and supported by management in rapidly advancing the quality of the products and services we deliver.
"The Cannondale purchase led us to segment our bicycle business to provide best-in-class service to the distinct retailer categories," he added. "Naturally, Cannondale and CSG are key components of our commitment to our independent bicycle dealers (IBD) as we realize how critical IBDs are to the cycling community and to us.
Roman Kreuziger and the Liquigas boys Photo ©: Christophe Mury
"In addition to the plans outlined above, and to ensure we delight our customers with our distinctive brands, innovative products and impactful in-store programs, we are also consolidating our North American CSG operations to two locations from five."
Dorel has created 'Five Centers of Excellence' around the world, with each location focused on a specific market segment or expertise. These centers will be based in:
* Bethel, Connecticut (global headquarters and innovation centre for high-end and enthusiast bicycles);
* Basel, Switzerland (for high-end and enthusiast bicycles sold/marketed in Europe);
* Madison, Wisconsin (for global mass market products);
* Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (for active lifestyle and urban apparel and footwear); and
* Taichung, Taiwan (for coordination of sourcing, testing and quality of Asian suppliers/partners)
Bedford has been its domestic bicycle manufacturing hub since the first model, the ST500, rolled off the line in 1983. Company founder Joe Montgomery sold panniers and child trailers in 1971, taking the company public in 1995. A misguided effort into motorcycle production brought the company to bankruptcy in 2003. Italian road star and 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso currently races a Cannondale SuperSix HiMod carbon road bike with the Liquigas team. Stars who've raced Cannondales include Mario Cipollini, Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni (Saeco), Tinker Juarez, Brian Lopes, Missy Giove, and Myles Rockwell.
Dorel, founded in 1962, is a Montreal-based publicly traded company with annual sales of US$2 billion.
*taking from cycling news
Cannondale shuttering US production
By Gary Boulanger, US editor, Bikeradar.com
Cannondale is undergoing more changes Photo ©: Kirsten Robbins
Dorel Industries, parent company of Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, Mongoose and Sugoi, announced it was consolidating locations in the United States, while phasing out production in its Bedford, Pennsylvania factory.
"Today is the beginning of a very exciting period for Dorel's Recreational/Leisure business," said Jeff McGuane, president of Cannondale Sports Group (CSG) North America. McGuane, who has been with Cannondale since 1994 and most recently was President ofCSG International, was named to his new post last month.
Dorel purchased Cannondale and Sugoi from Pegasus Partners for nearly US$200 million cash in early February 2008. Cannondale, an early pioneer of production aluminium bikes, began importing carbon frames from Taiwan in 2007.
The number of Bedford employess will shrink from 300 to 100 by late 2010, as Cannondale transitions 100 percent of its production to its new facility in Taichung, Taiwan. The Bedford facility will be used for final bicycle and Headshok assembly, some CNC machining, testing and quality control, bicycle warranty repair, inside sales/service, distribution and customer support/administration (including a new call center on-site).
The Lake Forest, California and Longmont, Colorado facilities, home to GT and its testing facilities for years, will close as part of the consolidation. All high-end jobs will be based out of Cannondale's original Bethel, Connecticut facility, with some current employees being offered jobs in Connecticut.
Pacific Cycles, based in Madison, Wisconsin, will focus strictly on mass market bikes, where its roots lie since Chris Hornung began selling bikes from the Orient in the mid 1970s. Dorel bought Pacific for US$375 million in 2004.
According to Dorel, all North American product development, marketing and business management functions for all four cycling brands (Cannondale, Schwinn, GT and Mongoose) will move to Bethel, within the newly named Cycling Sports Group (formerly the Cannondale Sports Group).
"Our vision is to create the most innovative and admired company in the recreation and leisure marketplace, and to become a global leader, which is why the Dorel segment was established in the first place," said Robert Baird, president of Dorel's Recreational/Leisure segment. "The strategy for transforming that vision into reality requires a unified, collaborative, and highly engaged workforce, relentlessly committed to innovation and supported by management in rapidly advancing the quality of the products and services we deliver.
"The Cannondale purchase led us to segment our bicycle business to provide best-in-class service to the distinct retailer categories," he added. "Naturally, Cannondale and CSG are key components of our commitment to our independent bicycle dealers (IBD) as we realize how critical IBDs are to the cycling community and to us.
Roman Kreuziger and the Liquigas boys Photo ©: Christophe Mury
"In addition to the plans outlined above, and to ensure we delight our customers with our distinctive brands, innovative products and impactful in-store programs, we are also consolidating our North American CSG operations to two locations from five."
Dorel has created 'Five Centers of Excellence' around the world, with each location focused on a specific market segment or expertise. These centers will be based in:
* Bethel, Connecticut (global headquarters and innovation centre for high-end and enthusiast bicycles);
* Basel, Switzerland (for high-end and enthusiast bicycles sold/marketed in Europe);
* Madison, Wisconsin (for global mass market products);
* Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (for active lifestyle and urban apparel and footwear); and
* Taichung, Taiwan (for coordination of sourcing, testing and quality of Asian suppliers/partners)
Bedford has been its domestic bicycle manufacturing hub since the first model, the ST500, rolled off the line in 1983. Company founder Joe Montgomery sold panniers and child trailers in 1971, taking the company public in 1995. A misguided effort into motorcycle production brought the company to bankruptcy in 2003. Italian road star and 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso currently races a Cannondale SuperSix HiMod carbon road bike with the Liquigas team. Stars who've raced Cannondales include Mario Cipollini, Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni (Saeco), Tinker Juarez, Brian Lopes, Missy Giove, and Myles Rockwell.
Dorel, founded in 1962, is a Montreal-based publicly traded company with annual sales of US$2 billion.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Worms and guts
With the wife and kids off to church I hit the roads, Thick fog and a cool mist, the warming temps had the roads filled with worms and squished frogs, one sure sign of spring is when the peepers start peeping. I like riding in a light rain. with the thin tires and chipped road, little to no need for fenders, glasses were useless within the first 100 yards, as the fog stuck to the outside, covered only about 25 miles, legs were quite heavy from previous weeks efforts, but eventually came around.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Going down
Took this shortly after the downhill picture below, I was going to just take a picture, but the video came on. Well might as well ride it out.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
phishing
I was given a copy of the three disc show from 3/6/2009 at the Hampton Colesium. I don't get out much anymore and for the most part don't really think concert tickets are worth their price. but the music, how many bands play three hours of music at every show? Not flawless, but the jazzy duo of page and trey, with the rythm and funk from mike and john, makes for music that hits hard. Sometimes the lyrics and almost nerdy inside stuff interfers with the pure musical talent that is.
late note.. looking at the setlist it is four hours of music. I am just curious what a typical concert is in length. late late edit. The sound of the video is not good, but the cds were order from Live, and the sound is excellent.
late note.. looking at the setlist it is four hours of music. I am just curious what a typical concert is in length. late late edit. The sound of the video is not good, but the cds were order from Live, and the sound is excellent.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursdays are tough
Up late, out run, or overdone. Trying to figure out why my sluggishness is lasting so long. Good group ride out to Marsh. Streaks of full throttle. Riding the flat pave back to victory was tough spin spin coast, was the game as the geared guys upped the anty, the 32X19 spun out quick.
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