39 Days until Schnoctobeerfest!

Autumn-my favorite time of year! The air is crisp, colors beautiful & the beer flavorful. Here's a picture from last year's Schnoctobeerfest, with all of us sporting wool jerseys. For those of you who have never tried wool, I encourage you to try one. I thought I'd buy one about 5 years ago just to satisfy my curiosity. Now, I rarely go out in the Fall (never in the Winter) without a wool jersey (I have several now). Wool is comfortable over a wide temperature range & stays warm in cold, driving rain & snow. It doesn't retain body odor. Yes, they're a little expensive, but they last for many seasons. Now, back to my other love, beer. New Belgium Brewing released a wool jersey a couple of years ago, which harkened back to the glory days of cycling (when some of the pro teams were sponsored by european breweries). There were two versions, a black one with pockets in the back (a true cycling jersey) & a beautiful dark brown one without pockets. They were priced pretty much at wholesale, around $60. Unfortunately, they're no longer available. But, if one scours bike shops in the Spring & Summer, once in a while, there are wool jerseys on the markdown racks. This is a great way to score that first fix!

Schnoctobeerfest Update

eDBiLLy came up with a great idea- everyone bring a 6 pack of your favorite brew & we'll have a smorgasboard! We will still provide more beer than you can drink, but this is a great opportunity for people to try new beers! We will provide a special prize for the most unique beer- be it home brew or some unique lager that you found.

Shirt from last year

Here is eDBiLLy's design from last year, in all its splendor. eDBiLLy called the ink color "I shit you not brown", so you know this one's a keeper.

Schnoctobeerfest

Saturday October 6th, CiTy BiLLy cycle will be hosting the second annual Schnoctobeerfest ride out of Elkhorn, Nebraska. This ride is a celebration of cooler weather, wool jerseys, singlespeeds (fixed & free) & Oktoberfest! Please join us for a 55 mile ride followed by beer & food. For just ten bucks, you'll get a t-shirt designed by founding father eDBiLLy, beer & food. Drop me an e-mail if you're interested- it will be fun!





Here's a pic from last year's ride. We're saving lonely beers from boring lives one bottle, can or glass at a time!

RAGBRAI 2007

eDBiLLy, Steel & I only rode two days of RAGBRAI this year. Quite frankly, the excitement of having a 7 time TdF winner along has brought out way too many riders. On the second day (Monday), I felt nervous all day. We came up on two serious accidents. People just flat out don't use common sense. A four wide paceline, passing other cyclists (who are of varying competence)? I think we'll look for our Route 666 kicks somewhere else ( I hear that South Dakota next summer is the place to be). Special thanks to the KeRNeL for riding with us Sunday & being the photographer.

Join me on my soapbox

Well, the Tour de France is finished. Some French newspapers would lead you to believe that it's dead. When "chicken" Rasmussen was yanked out of the race & fired by Rabobank, it didn't really shock me. What will shock me is if Contador can escape detection. Many of the younger cyclists are pointing to Rasmussen, Vino, and Mayo and saying that they're members of the old guard, and the doping mentality is prevalent in that group, but not in their group. I pray that's true, but I find it hard to believe in this time of instant gratification & intense pressure to produce. I do applaud the teams for taking the reins & punishing the dopers. It's sad when we don't have a definite winner at the end of such an epic event, which may be the end result of the 2006 Tour. The 2007 race will be forever tainted by the doping scandal, yet there were moments of extreme beauty. For example, in stage 3, when Fabian Cancellara outsprinted the field & showed the mythical power of the maillot jaune. That's what I'll remember from this race. We can only hope that the sport comes to its senses & realizes that it is endangering the creation of more memories.

This is a cyclist!

This is Jacques Anquetil, a controversial cyclist in his time. This man was a badass. Here's a little excerpt from the Cycling Hall of Fame to illustrate my point. "Anquetil was also a known partier and consumer of fine wines and foods. The 1964 Tour de France illustrates this point. On the rest day in Andorra, Anquetil feasted on a slab of roast lamb while the other riders were out for an easy ride and a day of rest. The next day Anquetil was dropped on the first climb and was behind the leaders of the stage by over four minutes. Only after drinking a champagne-filled water bottle did his stomach troubles subside and allow him to rejoin the leaders after a considerable chase. Later in the 1964 Tour, on a stage up the Puy de Dome, Anquetil and Poulidor had a showdown. Poulidor was normally a much better climber than Anquetil. This being the last major climb in the Tour, with Anquetil holding roughly a minute advantage over Poulidor, Anquetil bluffed Poulidor and rode side by side with Anquetil matching the better climber, Poulidor, with each turn of the pedal. Anquetil finally cracked and Poulidor beat Anquetil by roughly forty seconds. The only decisive stage left in the race was a time trial which Anquetil easily won and stretched his lead over Poulidor by 55 seconds".
Here's my idea for professional cycling: there should be a preliminary event where the riders are required to drink a 12 pack of PBR & eat a pastrami on rye. Then, maybe we can get back to those days when we could look up to our heroes, like Jacques Anquetil!