Rochester Flyers

So it’s now live. Go ahead and buy your team and then join my league (named: Rochester Flyers).

This league let’s you choose any 15 riders, as long as you don’t spend more than the “$500″ they allow you. Of course some riders are worth more than others. So spend wisely.

Of the 15 riders, you can “‘play” 10 and “bench” the other 5. This comes in handy for choosing riders for different (climbing, sprinting, time trials, etc) stages.

Don’t forget to join the Rochester Flyers league after you sign up.

So now here is a taste of the HD video footage from the 2009 Almanzo 100 race that’s being put into the movie set to release March 2010.

Almanzo HD (a mock up) from Chris Skogen on Vimeo.

Ok… I don’t know what’s up with the Versus fantasy cycling league. It’s still not live yet. And the tour starts Saturday.

Well never fear, just in case it never goes live, there is another place to play director sportif. And it’s free too! It’s super easy to join. Just click this link (http://www.depontieu.net/cobble/index.php?CBL=2), and fill in the form. That’s it. And in fact, you can continue on through the rest of the season. So not just Tour de France, but the Vuelta, World Championships and any other Pro Tours race for the season.

If you create a team and you want to compete in my subleague, leave a comment to this post with your team name, and I’ll add you. It’ll be fun. At least it’ll be fun for me and my team to crush yours into dust.

Fo’ reals! Almanzo released an unedited sampler of some of the film footage taken from the 2009 Almanzo 100 race.

Almanzo Film (Unedited Sample) from Chris Skogen on Vimeo.

I love the graininess of film.

The complete video should be ready to view in March 2010. I can’t wait to see it.

Urban Velo #14

Look’s like a good issue (as always). So far I’ve read the first page on crit racing. Good stuff.

There is a legend in cycling circles about the 1980 Coors Classic stage race, which the movie American Flyers is based on. The story goes like this; a team from Colombia showed up and dominated the road race, putting several minutes into the top American. The Americans were demoralized, and teamed up against the Colombians in the criterium. The lead American needed to lap the leader twice in order to make up the time he had lost to win the race overall. The Colombians were inexperienced at criteriums, to say the least. The Americans were superb.

“Jock” Boyer lapped the lead Colombian two times, and was crowned the first Coors Classic champion.

Be sure to check it out. Here!

Possibly part of the route. West on Hegberg Rd.

I may have to do this one, it sounds awesome. 104 miles total. 77 1/2 gravel. 22 1/4 pavement. And the rest trails, with some possible run up sections.

Like Almanzo, it’s a self supported ride. You are responsable for you. There will be one checkpoint/feed station, where they will have your goodies wiating for you to pick up.

This race is in the fall, Sptember 26 to be exact. I think that temps are usually in the 70’s at that time, though it may be down in the 50’s. At least down here in Rochester. They may be cooler up by Duluth.

Also like Almanzo, it’s free. Registration is by postcard, deadline is September 1.

For more info about the race and registration visit: http://heckofthenorth.blogspot.com/

Traffic on northbound U.S. 52 was backed up after an collision that killed a bicyclist Friday morning on the northbound exit ramp at 37th Street Northwest in Rochester. Jerry Olson/Post-Bulletin

I just heard about this.

Bicyclist dies in collision with truck on U.S. 52 offramp

6/26/2009 4:05:09 PM

By Tom Weber

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

An unidentified bicyclist was killed Friday morning in a collision with a truck on the northbound exit ramp of U.S. 52 at 37th Street Northwest in Rochester.

The accident occurred at 8:07 a.m., at the base of the exit ramp from northbound U.S. 52 to 37th Street, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

The identity of the victim was not released Friday. The driver of the International Series 4000 truck, Robert K. Arjun, 35, of Otsego, Minn., was not injured, the patrol said.

The collision happened in an area where the left lane was closed for construction, and resulted in both lanes being closed until about 9 a.m., the accident report stated.

The Post-Bulletin will have more on this story later.

It always saddens me to hear of another rider down. My prayers go out to any loved ones and friends he leaves behind.

Also on the Versus site is a link to the 2009 TDF fantasy cycling league. If you participated last year it seems like you can use the same log-in and password. But there is nothing past that available yet, it says it’s gonna go live on the 29th of June.

Last years game was a fun way to keep track of the Tour. I think I’ll set up a subleague again so that we can play against each other.

Of course I havn’t kept much track of the riders going into this tour so I’m not sure how well I’ll do at picking riders. But it’s all in fun.

I’ll let you know when it’s live and the info for joining my league.

Versus, the cable channel that airs the Tour in the US has been quietly releasing illustrated videos counting down through the tour. Currently there are 4 episodes available to watch.

You can view them by visiting this link.

Yes, they are very much Lance and Astana flavored. After all, fancy pants is the only real reason Versus has been a success.