This Video Will Change The Way You Look At Competitive Cycling Forever

inCycle video: Inside the sprint finish on stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse

Yelling, pushing and shoving at high speeds in tight spaces. This is certainly an eye-opener. You never realize just how intense and aggressive these cycling sprints can be when you’re watching it shot from a slow moving camera out of a helicopter.

BCL

2014 Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic

Family Time on the Bike

Allison, John and Jennifer

Thank you for sharing these photographs John, you three look like your having a great time. As always we appreciate the business and look forward to seeing the Family at the next event, maybe in CT.

Side note: John was instrumental in getting the LongsCycle.com expo truck covered with decals at the Philly Cycling Classic on June 1st - we had no problem getting through the Police barricades the morning of the race. Always fun being an 'official vehicle' for a day, stretched it to two as we did not take off the stickers till we arrived back in Massachusetts early Monday morning.

Jennifer and Allison are sporting the 

Hannah Rose Women's Jersey

and 

Women's 8-Panel XPD Cycling Shorts

BCL

1968 Tour of Somerville - Siegi Kock

Siegi Koch. Winner of the 1968 Tour of Somerville

Brian F. shared this photo of Siegi Koch from 1968 after winning the Tour of Somerville, America's oldest cycling race. Siegi is 78, still rides and lives a few miles up the road from me in Toronto. We have been riding together for 40 odd years. - Brian F.

A Tradition in Bicycle Racing Since 1940!

Congratulations to Adam Alexander for winning the 2014 Men's Tour of Somerville and to Erica Allar for winning the 2014 Women's Open!

LongsCycle has been attending the Tour of Somerville for over 20 years. It's a pleasure to spend Memorial Day in Somerville and speak with friends who have made the Monday Classic a tradition that continues through the generations. The crowd continues to grow too with the bike race the focal point of entertainment for thousands of NJ, NY and PA residents.

The Tour of Somerville Cycling Series is an exciting three-day event of competitive cycling for professionals and amateurs over Memorial Day weekend. The event culminates on Monday with the 50-mile Kugler-Anderson Memorial Tour of Somerville, known as the "Kentucky Derby of Cycling." The Tour is the oldest major bicycle race in the United States and a legend in the lore of bicycle racing. Tour of Somerville

How the Tour Started

When professional bike racer and bike shop owner, Fred Kugler, now universally known as "Pop," decided to promote a bike race in his hometown of Somerville, he encountered one problem. New Jersey state law prohibited racing on highways for prizes, and Somerville's Main Street is State Highway 28. To bypass this legislation, Kugler then decided to name the race a "tour." Hence the classic, 50-mile Tour of Somerville was born in May of 1940.

Kugler's son, Furman, a past junior champion and one of the country's most promising cyclists, won the inaugural Tour of Somerville in 1940 and repeated his victory in 1941. Carl Anderson, a friend of Kugler's won the Tour in 1942. World War II suspended the Tour from 1943-1946, and its Memorial Day date took on a sad irony when Kugler and Anderson were both killed while serving with the Armed Forces overseas. Resumed in 1947, the Senior Men's race of the Tour of Somerville was officially renamed the Kugler-Anderson Memorial, in honor of the two past winners that died for their country.

BCL

THE DICK POWER STORY A Dark Day in Sunnyside

THE CITY RELIQUARY PRESENTS:

THE DICK POWER STORY

A Dark Day in Sunnyside

a bike obsessed life of damage and redemption

Exhibit at the City Reliquary through August

Brooklyn, June 11, 2014:  The fixie riding hipster is just as common today in the urban landscape of New York as an awkwardly helmeted tourist browsing the rows of CitiBikes. But long before every hip Brooklyn neighborhood had at leastone or two bike boutiques, Dick Power was crafting fine artisan bicycle frames in Sunnyside, Queens.  A Dark Day in Sunnyside is the newest exhibit by The City Reliquary Museum, and it examines the life and times of this man, whose obsession with racing bicycles led to consequences inspiring, but also dark.

Unlike the worthy but workmanlike frame building of the 20s, Power used expensive  silver to braze the tubes of the  frames to  lugs,  knowing  that  the  lower  melting  point  of  the  precious metal  would leave the tubing unbowed and the bike straighter. This sort of care became the hallmark of the American frame builder, different from the “good enough” work of old-world craftsmen.

Power was also a  patriot, intent on being an All-American even though he had to navigate a world that ultimately crushed his family and took away a son, leaving him, and ultimately us, only the bicycles that he built as a lasting monument. A DarkDay  in Sunnyside, is a tribute to this pivotal bicycle artisan, and displays many of those bicycles which stand as a monument to Power's life, story, and place in the annals of bicycle history.

Catch a glimpse,reflected in the silver braze, of a most remarkable life. The bikes on display come from the collection of Edward H Albert, a former road racer, avid vintage bicycle collector, and dedicated chronicler of bicycle history. The City Reliquary Museum is thrilled to present  these priceless examples of early American bicycle artistry to the public in this brand new Exhibit.

Located at 370 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

https://goo.gl/maps/PkQgu

The City Reliquary’s hours are: Thursday through Sunday: 12pm – 6pm.

Admission to the museum is $5-10 suggested donation. For general information, please visit the Museum’s website

Contact:

The City Reliquary

370 Metropolitan Ave

Brooklyn, NY, 11211

www.cityreliquary.org

Phone: (718)-RU-CIVIC

cityreliquary@gmail.com

Ancient Cyclist with Funkier Bibs Test

  

A few weekends ago I participated in one of those early season, European-style rides on rough/unpaved roads resulting in severe bruising of the "delicate part" preventing me from being able to sit, let alone ride. I mentioned this to Brian of LONGSCYCLE and he suggested that I try a new line of padded shorts. Skeptically, I bought a pair of funkierbib shorts and put them to the test.

To my surprise and relief, they have proven to be fantastic! The roads here in Pennsylvania have suffered badly this past winter and are rough, to say the least. I rode the same pair every day for a week, cleaning nightly and they cushioned the roughness of the roads and never showed any signs of lumping or bunching of the gel padding and are the most comfortable shorts I have ever ridden. In the 7 days, I have had them I missed riding one day and managed 322 miles and they are still as good as new! If you are looking to improve your comfort and performance for the next club ride or century--try a pair of these. 

My only caution is that if you are going to use them daily, do your washing immediately after your ride because the padding is so generous and porous that you will need as much time as possible for them to dry.

John Chaki

Ancient Cyclist

The Air Force Association Cycling Classic 2014

It's that time of year again for the Air Force Cycling Classic in Arlington, Virginia on June 7-8. We're just back from races and events from the last week and we're working on packing up and hitting the road very soon. This is a great event and make sure to stop by if you're able to attend.  The team is packing up some great new gel cycling gloves and new socks we just received this week! Hope to see you out there and check out the video about the event if you're not familiar with it.