In case you wanted to get one last bike ride around the Cades Cove Loop Road without having to fight automobile traffic, you better hurry. The last day for the road being closed to motor vehicles on Wednesday and Saturday mornings is September 22.
In other words, there are only four more opportunities left this year.
On each Wednesday and Saturday mornings throughout the summer, the Cades Cove Loop Road is closed to motor vehicles until 10:00 a.m. to allow pedestrians and cyclists to enjoy the cove.
As I mentioned in a post earlier this summer, other than walking it, biking the loop is the absolute best way of seeing Cades Cove - especially since the road has been repaved.
For more information on bicycling in Cades Cove, and other areas in and just outside of the park, please click here.
Yesterday Lance Armstrong made a serious statement at the opening time trial of the Tour de France. Unexpectedly, Armstrong finished 5 seconds faster than his rival, Alberto Contador.
It appears that Armstrong may be better prepared than I previously thought. Although we won't really know until the mountains, I might have to revise my predictions from last week. At this point I still don't think he has the legs to win the Tour, but I do think the race could be a lot tighter than I originally thought. I will be real curious to see how Lance performs in the first real mountain stages (7 and 8).
Don't forget Tuesday. Stage 3 will be quite interesting as well. The race passes over a few stretches of cobblestones near the finish that could really shake things up. Contador has little experience riding over cobbles.
Speaking of Lance, did you see the feature length story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday? Quite interesting.
Former teammate Floyd Landis laid-out some detailed doping allegations against Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal / Discovery teams. Although very compelling, you have to take it with massive grains of salt. Landis is a known liar and bit of a loose cannon. Of course Armstrong has strongly denied all allegations.
There's been an awful lot of smoke surrounding Lance and illegal doping over the years. I completely agree that there are a lot of reasons to believe that he isn't doping, such as his freakish physiology, his attention to detail, his revolutionary preparedness and training, and the fact that he lost a lot of upper body weight due to his cancer, while maintaining the muscle mass in his legs.
However, I'd like to point out some historical facts:
* The three winners of the Tour de France in the three years just prior to the the Armstrong era have all admitted to doping:
1996: Bjarne Riis 1997: Jan Ullrich 1998: Marco Pantani
* During the Armstrong era of 1999 through 2005, there were a total of eight different riders that finished second or third to Lance in those years. Five of those riders have since been busted for doping: Alex Zulle, Jan Ullrich, Raimondas Rumsas, Alexander Vinokourov and Ivan Basso.
* In 2006, the first year after the Armstrong era, Tour winner Floyd Landis was stripped of his victory for illegal doping.
* At least six teammates -top lieutenants - of Lance Armstrong have been busted, or admitted to doping over the years, including; Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Roberto Herras, Floyd Landis, Frankie Andreu and Manuel Beltran.
I really don't know what the truth is. What are your thoughts? Do you think Lance has been, or has ever cheated?
Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
This Saturday marks the 97th version of the Tour de France which will begin in Rotterdam, Netherlands with a short 5.5-mile time trial. The race features a delicious rematch of the Lance Armstrong - Alberto Contador feud.
Last year I predicted that Armstrong would finish on the podium of cycling’s greatest race, with an outside chance of possibly landing at the top. He ended up finishing third, with his teammate, Alberto Contador, landing the Yellow Jersey.
This year, I think it’s likely that Armstrong will finish with the best overall time among his teammates. Unfortunately for Lance in this scenario, Contador is no longer a teammate.
Although he’s never publicly admitted it, I believe Lance’s biggest reason for coming out of retirement two years ago was to defend his all time record of most Tour de France victories (7). At only 27 years of age, and already with 2 Tour victories under his belt, I think Lance knows that Contador has an excellent chance at matching or surpassing his record someday. I believe Lance’s chief motivation for returning was to take out at least one Yellow Jersey victory from Contador, thus increasing his chances of maintaining his record as the man with the most Tour championships.
Be that as it may, I don’t think Armstrong’s chances of beating his former teammate are all that great. In fact, I think Contador will beat Armstrong by a fairly large margin – by more than 7 or 8 minutes.
On roads that will be up and down all day, Stages 7 and 8 will present opportunities for the Spaniard to pick up time against his rivals. However, with a weaker team than he had last year, I think Contador will wait until late in the Tour to strike against his former teammate.
I look for Contador to land his first psychological blow on Armstrong during Stage 14 when the race finishes at the top of Ax-3 Domaines, the second major mountain top finish of the race. Look for Contador to launch his first serious attack on the slopes of the final climb to the ski resort in the Pyrenees.
It’s likely that Lance will be able to limit his losses on this day. However, Stage 17 will likely be the day of reckoning. The 108-mile stage ends at the summit of the famous Col du Tourmalet. Contador will use the final miles on the steep slopes to the top to smash Armstrong and all other contenders.
I still think Lance is strong enough to finish on the podium again. There aren’t many contenders that will be able to go mano a mano with Lance. It’s likely that Andy Schleck will again be his biggest competition for that second spot on the podium. Who knows, maybe if circumstances prevail towards the end of the race, maybe Armstrong will covertly lend some assistance to Schleck in order to overcome Contador? If my theory for Lance’s return is correct, the motivation will certainly be there.
With last year’s winner out of the picture due to doping investigations, I look for Contador, or one of the Schleck brothers, Frank or Andy, to claim the Red Polka Dot Climbers Jersey for the “King of the Mountains” this year.
For the Green Sprinters Jersey, I fully expect Mark Cavendish to win this year. Despite a nasty crash at the end of the 4th Stage of the Tour of Switzerland (see video below), there is no one in the world as fast as this man is right now.
Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
In the quest to win cycling's greatest race, cyclists are apparently willing to resort to hidden motors in their bike frames to give them another advantage. I guess drugs just aren't cutting it anymore.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) said that bikes used at the Tour de France will be scanned to make sure they don't contain illegal motors, a result of rumours that Fabian Cancellara used 'mechanical doping' during his victories in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The Swiss Olympic time-trial champion strongly denies the allegation.
The ICU said in a statement that "a scanner will be used from the time of the Tour de France. This instrument, recently tested with a successful outcome, will allow an official to detect any illegal devices that may be concealed, for example, in the bicycle frame."
A video posted on various websites (in French, with subtitles) appears to show Cancellara pushing a button on the handlebars of his bike during both races.
The 2010 Tour de France begins in Rotterdam on July 3 and concludes in Paris on July 25.
Cheating in the Tour de France isn't new. Many people think that the doping issues that have plagued the sport in the last two decades marked the decline of the sport. However, cheating has existed almost from day one. During the second Tour de France in 1904, Maurice Garin, winner of the inaugural French race in 1903, was disqualified after hopping on a train during one of the stages.
Others riders took short cuts in the early years as well. While some jumped into cars, others resorted to being towed by cars in which the cyclist would fix a wire to a wing mirror and then hold it between their teeth by a cork.
Using a bike to hide contraband isn't new either. One of the great Italian cycling icons, Gino Bartali, used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance during World War II. Pretending to be training, Bartali helped several hundred Jews escape the German death camps.
While "training," Bartali wore a racing jersey emblazoned with his name so that everyone knew who he was. Neither the Fascist police nor the German troops risked discontent among the Italian people by arresting him.
Whether it's cars, trains, drugs or motorized bikes, you just can't have a Tour de France without some controversy. I guess it is what it is.
Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
This past weekend my wife and I returned from another trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. On this visit we accomplished several firsts - including our first elk sighting in the Smokies, as well as our first visit to the Cataloochee area.
Last Wednesday we also had a chance to ride a bicycle around Cades Cove for the very first time. Let me tell you, other than actually walking it, cycling the loop road is absolutely the best way to see the Cove. Not having to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic offers a completely different experience as well as a different perspective of Cades Cove. You can ride at your own pace and enjoy the peace, quiet and tranquility of this truly special place.
Now I’m not recommending riding the loop at anytime. I’m referring to taking the opportunity to ride the loop when it’s closed to motor traffic on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
With brand new pavement recently laid down, we originally intended to bring our road bikes to the park. However, due to some roof rack issues, we decided to just go with some rentals from the Cades Cove Campground Store – a decision we really regretted. The mountain bikes we rented were in pretty bad condition. In addition to being forced to ride in an extreme forward position, I had shifting problems during the entire ride. The front brakes on Kathy’s bike didn’t work properly - effectively doubling her stopping distance and increasing her risk of crashing. Also, the quick release on her seat stem failed on several occasions resulting in her seat dropping while riding up hills.
When we returned we told the attendant about the problems and told them that they really needed to take better care of their bikes.
Honestly, until the store corrects these problems, you’re probably better off digging out that old rusted Huffy (with the banana seat) out of your attic.
We did discover one advantage with the rentals, however. Riding mountain bikes allowed us to ride on Sparks and Hyatt Lanes – something I highly recommend in order to explore the interior of the Cove.
Below are a few photos from our ride.
Over the next several days I’ll be sharing hike reports and other photos from our visit.
For more information on cycling in the Smokies, please click here.
Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
I came across this from Outdoor Chattanooga. As a cyclist myself, and knowing that many hikers enjoy cycling as well, I thought I'd mention this:
The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals has opened a dialogue on why women and girls cycle less than men with an online survey and free webinar.
All women are invited to take a 15-minute online survey about why they cycle or why they don't cycle through May 15, 2010.
The public is also invited to attend a free webinar on women and cycling on Wednesday, Mar. 31, at 3 p.m. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.
Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
Last week, in conjuction with the opening day of the National Bike Summit in Washington DC, Google maps launched a Beta version of its new direction finder for bicycle routes.
The new map tool will help cyclists find the quickest, safest way from Point A to Point B.
Apparently cyclists have been advocating for Google to add a layer for bicycles to its "Get Directions" function for some time now.
A petition started by Peter Smith at Google Maps 'BikeThere' received more than 50,000 signatures from bicyclists who wanted the service.
The bicycle route finder uses data gathered on bike paths, bike lanes and low-traffic streets to arrive at the suggested route. Google staffers are emphasizing that this project is in Beta, and have built in ways that users can inject their feedback into the results at the "Report a Problem" area.
The results may not show the most direct route in some cases. Not only safety, but topography is also factored into the route-finding formula so that cyclists can avoid steep hills, etc.
Google has produced a "how to" video explaining how to use the new service:
> Please click here to give the new map tool a "test drive."
> Click here for information on bicycling in and around the Great Smokies.
Jeff HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.
In case you wanted to get one last bike ride around the Cades Cove Loop Road without having to fight automobile traffic, you better hurry. The last day for the road being closed to motor vehicles on Wednesday and Saturday mornings is September 22.
