Something to aspire to

I found this in the Cycling Plus forum. Some day.

CD's Saturday cycling tip: newspaper cycling blowout!

On this side of the Atlantic, I think we're more likely to see newsroom positions restored and monkeys flying out the butts of publishers before we see anything like the Guardian's cycling extravaganza. This is good, basic cycling stuff for the largely noncycling public. Cycling know-it-alls are already sniffing in online forums that this 92-page section has missed the point. The point the sniffers miss is that when the mainstream press doesn't doesn't ignore cyclists, it often depicts them as, well, eccentric, effete, monocle-wearing sniffers. Jeeeeezus. This section, even if it is from a suspect leftist publication bent on driving cars off the planet, might even get a few more people — sans monocle and nose drip — out on bikes. And with a major newspaper is investing that much in newsprint and Web resources to talk about cycling, it would surprise me if there aren't a few primates aloft in the Guardian offices.

An empty handbasket after all

To my surprise, February turned out to be adequate. I lamented a few weeks ago in this post that rides not taken were going to make all the difference in my mileage for the month. On Feb. 20, I had 108 miles. When I came in last night that number had tripled. Three decent rides to complement the commute will do that in a week.

At last, a near match of plan and action. Sort of.

The journey described in the most recent ride guide nearly matched the one I went on yesterday. I rode the 100-kilometer leg of the Frostbite Tour through Johnston, Wilson and Nash counties. Though frostbite was never a risk, I was a cold mofo while I waited to get started and I never got warm warm even under bright sun. Just cool warm. Temperature, combined with a dearth of riders going for 100 miles and confidence that I had absolutely no idea where I was going, caused me to pack it in a metric century. Those things and the rest stop located at the 100k start-finish, where my car also happened to be. Now I know what I'll do for half a banana.

C'dork's Friday ride guide: 100 reasons

Sorry to have slacked over the last couple of weeks. But I'm actually hitting the road this weekend and am going to put my money where my mouth is tomorrow when I turn in my application for the Frostbite Tour. Johnston and the other counties involved are largely uncharted territory so it will be good to see a new part of the world, even though I'll be seeing parts of it two or three times over 100 miles. The information is pretty slick, as maps and cue sheets are included. As of a few hours before post time there were still spots left.

The wonderful smugness of superiority

Admission: I am not so superior that I do own not a car. In fact I have a financial interest in three motorized vehicles. It came to my attention recently that one of these vehicles needed new tags. The first thing I did was concoct an intensely complicated plan that involved switching cars among every family member, time tables with no more than a split second of discrepancy and financial transactions that would constipate a Nigerian e-mail scammer. So after I forgot the car-switch part yesterday morning — and that was the linchpin of the plan — I decided to simply ride to the DMV license plate office. Not only did I get to cycle down Walnut Street (Cary's equivalent of the most hideous road wherever you live), I — here's where the smugness and superiority come in — parked my bike inside the office while I waited to pay my $33. It's probably better for me that the clerk acted as if every person who pays his or her fee does so after wheeling a bike into the office. I understand. After all, I've had to stay cool in analogous situations myself.

New heights indeed

If Bicycling's climbing special makes cycledork want to take a nap, Procycling's "50 Greatest Climbs" from the January issue makes me want to hide under the bed. Four rides in the United States make it: Brasstown Bald in Georgia (No. 46), Mount Evans in Colorado (No. 42), Flagstaff Road from Boulder, Colo. (No. 33) and Mount Washington in New Hampshire (No. 13). It was surprising that only Mount Evans and Mount Washington made Bicycling's unranked, alphabetical-by-state list. Appropriately for a magazine published in a country with a longer history in international cycling than the United States, 43 of the other 46 climbs are European (the other three are in Colombia, Australia and Malaysia). Most are legendary even among those of us who have trouble distinguishing between a genuine hill and a false flat. While I've had my own successful badass, albeit unlisted, uphill adventures in Colorado, I am naively and probably hilariously curious enough to want to answer this question for myself: how hard can Mont Ventoux really be?