Googler rides 40 miles to work

Keith told me he rides from his home in San Francisco to his job at Google in Mountain View, CA -- a distance of almost 40 miles one way.

Keith was on the side of the road messing with his PDA when I passed by him. He was trying a new route that takes him across East Palo Alto toward the gravel trail through Baylands Nature Preserve.

If you can wear a size XS or S, you can buy a Google bicycle jersey of your very own.

Tags: palo+alto, menlo+park, google, bicycle, cyclist, commute

Photo info: Googler in distress by richardmasoner.

Test ride a Litespeed, get free socks

Rats. I wish I saw this item earlier. I walked right by a Litespeed dealer in Estes Park, Colorado today. We dropped in at Deleo's Deli for excellent sandwiches, walked up Elkhorn Avenue, sampled some ice cream, bought tacky tourist t-shirts. My wife asked if I wanted to go into the bike shop and I responded "I've been in there a thousand times before; I already know what they have."

Gas saving tips for the holiday weekend

I suppose it's a bit late to plan a short bicycle tour, but if you're traveling somewhere for the weekend, consider using a bicycle to get around, especially if you're visiting an urban area. A bicycle is the perfect way to get around the tourist areas of San Francisco, for example.

Frommer's published some gas saving ideas for your vacation: suggesting Vacations by Rail, a couple of bicycle touring outfits, bike rental offers and bus passes through Aspen Snowmass, and pointers to other ideas.

I'm sticking close to home this Memorial Day -- although "home" right now means flying 1000 miles to Colorado so I'm far from being conservationist. After that, though, will be house cleanup, chores, a church picnic this Sunday, and time with my family.

It's worth pointing out that Memorial Day is more than just a three-day weekend marking the start of summer. This day is set aside to remember those who died in the service of their nation. Remember them and their sacrifice.

Tags: memorial+day, holiday, travel

Bicycle smörgåsbord

Unlike East St. Louis, if you steal a bike in Japan you'll just rot in jail.

Looking for cycling events and rides? Visit BikeRide.com.

Some implications of the Liberty Seguros bust at TDFblog. "Jan Ullrich was among [team doctor] Fuentes' clients, along with about 200 others, after claiming Tuesday that Basso was. Both riders have previously worked with Luigi Cecchini, mentioned in some stories as a friend and collaborator with Fuentes."

If you haven't visited in a while, don't forget the Oil is for Sissies blog. It's one of the originals.

Western Washington University cycling team in Bellingham, WA. How many other university cycling teams have their own website? How many other universities have a cycling team? My alma mater has one (organized while I attended in the mid-80s -- I ran cross country and didn't join cycling) -- Midwestern State in Wichita Falls is 6th in the nation out of 47 NCAA Division 1 cycling teams. What about your school?

Turn on, tune in, and get dropped

Dropped is what Liberty Seguros did with their sponsorship of the eponymous pro cycling team when team director Manolo Saiz was detained by police during a Spanish dope investigation. "The implications and consequences of the detention of Manolo Saiz are highly worrying; they damage our name and the name of cycling. We have cancelled our agreement with the owners of the team and will respect outstanding financial obligations."

This is the kind of action that will help end doping in professional cycling.

Full story here.. Hat tip to BikeBiz.

Tags: drugs, doping, spain, liberty+seguro, cycling

Mount Evans & Oh My God Road

Please comment if you have ever biked up any of these or would be interested in doing it. I will be heading out to Boulder next month (June 29th through July 5th), so I have a few days to accomplish these. Being from New Jersey, it's very rare for me to accomplish roads like these, so I am looking forward to giving them a shot.

So let me know if you want to go! It's a great goal for everyone to accomplish!