August 2009
2 posts
And moved.
We’re on the new server. Please continue following us (and our new RSS feed) over at thesupertempo.com
Pardon the dust.
Excuse the mess and downtime but we’re moving to a new server (and no longer using Tumblr, unfortunately — nothing wrong with the service) and hope to provide for bigger and better things to come. Keep checking in at thesupertempo.com
July 2009
10 posts
Tools
Isn’t it strange how a bicycle — a machine made up of hollow tubes, rubber tires, a chain, and gears — has the ability to cause swooning and lascivious thoughts. And dreams of sprinting from behind a leadout for the finish line or enduring a long slog of a climb for the reward of a descent at speed. Cars and automobilia have the same effect — the E30 BMW M3 or Lancia Delta...
The Day Off
Some of us have gotten it in our heads that riding ought to be a daily activity. We live and breathe the sport of cycling - the rationale that every day must spend some time in saddle is an easy jump to make.
The recovery ride follows the day of intervals; the long Sunday slog to the far reaches of the county is followed by a compulsion to ride the bike the following day for half hour, just to...
Don't Tread On Me
For some, a tire is a personal choice, while for others, it’s whatever they can find cheapest and run till it dies. For me, a tire should be a balance of things driven my your first priority - rolling resistance, tackiness (or how grippy it is), cornering ability, durability or flat protection.
Flat protection is my number one priority in a tire, followed by durability and then feel....
A Shoutout
In road cycling, the small breakaway is often such a futile, yet admirable, expenditure of energy. Three guys, dangling off the front, giving their all to stay away from the pack, and despite all the sideline cheering and encouraging, are often snapped back up just in time for a field sprint.
The Super Tempo admires deeply those brave souls that risk blowing up and ending their race early in an...
Training is Hard
“Well, doh!” you might say. There is a discipline one must adhere to, to generate the results you desire. You can train on your own, as many do, reading books and articles from the internet educating yourself on various methods and regimens. At some point however, this can only yield so many results, especially if you’ve never trained with a coach before or are blindly groping in...
WatchThe Mash crew just released their Tour of California video (a preview, I’m guessing). Like the punk-rock fixed-gear side of cycling they seem to represent, compare and contrast with the Rapha Continental crew who also did a little preview video of the same Tour of California they did. While in some respects they may differ (mostly aesthetically and on the surface), the feats accomplished by...
Satisfaction
Cycling is a frustrating sport for so many reasons:
1. The equipment is expensive and fragile. Wheels go out of true, computers break, chains wear out and replacing it all when it’s broken costs a large amount of money. Cycling in America is a rich person’s sport, whether we want to acknowledge it or not.
2. Being fast enough to be competitive takes a huge amount of time and...
What Has Changed
In a word, hills.
That is what has changed in my riding since moving to the west coast. No longer do I have the flatlands of the midwest to contend with, where being challenged meant time trial efforts, lengthy intervals, using the wind to simulate hills or playing dodge the rollerblader or runner.
Here, the terrain provides the stimuli.
So far, so good. I wake up in the mornings and am jazzed...
June 2009
10 posts
Justin Spinelli and His Epic Ride
Justin Spinelli, proprietor of Svelte Cycles, at the young age of 30, almost 31, has lived The Super Tempo lifestyle since taking up the sport of cycling as a teen. Natural talent led him to a career first with the NECSA/Richard Sachs squad, then Team Mercury, once a powerhouse in the US criterium circuit (this writer remembers seeing Floyd Landis and the rest of the Mercury team tearing up the...
Backing the Home Team
People tend to think of sponsors as just names and indecipherable logos that adorn a team’s kit from a distance never to be seen unless a racer has their podium photo finish.
Sponsors are a lot more than just organizations, businesses or individuals that seek to gain some sort of marketing exposure — these are people who believe in cycling, as a sport and as an endeavour that is...
Summer Embrocation
Today it finally felt like summer while out on the training ride. A stop to stretch at the turnaround point and sweat poured out from under my cycling cap onto my shoes and into my eyes. Sand and dead gnats clinged to my calves and I reminded myself that my legs were due for a shave.
Here in the Midwest, we have three months of the heat until the kneewarmers and serious embrocation come out. A...
The Solo Ride
A good, hard ride with friends and teammates is always a pleasure — you’re challenged to keep on your stronger friend’s wheel, and you work together to stay as a group over terrain’s rolling pitch or into a headwind.The first to the top of the climb rolls slowly down the backside of the hill, letting everyone else glom back on until the group is complete again.
Someone in...
WatchThe Lincoln, NE leg of Rapha’s Continental campaign. The videos are ever excellent and this one doesn’t disappoint. We have to say, that The Super Tempo is inspired in part by these very rides.
The new CyclingNews.com →
After years of a mish-mash site that was obviously cobbled together as features and content grew, CyclingNews gets a makeover. Taking cues from their other siblings such as BikeRadar, it fits into the fold. Content is better organized and better found.
“In cycling, only Top 10 finishes matter to anyone who isn’t you or in your...”
– The Super Tempo
November 2008
1 post
T is For
What’s on my mind lately. Trying to find out more about this metallurgical marvel.
From the aforementioned link: “It is a light, strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant (including to sea water and chlorine) transition metal with a silver colour.” I can dig it.
Recently I picked up a new RSS feed and blog to read. It’s the well-written and well-thought-out blog of Rob Vandermark, the founder of...