It was with great anticipation that I took my Swift Carbon R838 ISP out for its maiden voyage Saturday, April 2nd. I had driven to Bicycle Village in Westminster to pick it up and get fit (thanks Tim and Leo!) earlier in the week — 14.26lbs fully built with SRAM Red, Time iClic pedals, Deda [...]

The SRAM Tour of the Gila celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.  HQ’d in the sleepy town of Silver City, NM, the Gila is THE stage race for amateurs.  I lost track of how many times I heard people say that if you’re an amateur bike racer and consider yourself a stage racer, then the [...]

La Nina is just a bitch. Let’s get that straight and out of the way. While this winter and spring have been relatively mild down here in the valley, the incessant wind is driving cyclists mad. Saturday, April 16th’s Haystack TTT was no exception. To put it in perspective, individual riders who raced in the [...]

When I first looked at the stage profiles of the Tour de Gila, I wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into. 5 stages totaling over 350 miles, with the final stage’s 105 miles finishing atop the dreaded Gila Monster climb. Funny how things can change in a matter of about 2 weeks. I’m [...]

I was already enamored with cycling when my swimming career came to an end after NCAAs my senior year of college.  Greg LeMond was one of my sporting heroes.  I knew I wanted to remain competitive in some sport, but didn’t want to devote another 6 years of my life to try to attain my [...]