Most 22 year old students get a summer job. A lucky few might travel to some foreign land.
And then there’s Larkspur, California’s Dewey Helvestine.
On a $450 bicycle loaded with 25 pounds of spare clothes and camping gear, he set off from Norfolk, Virginia. 34 days and 3,763 miles later he rolled into Stinson Beach, California, stiff and sore in places he never imagined, but filled with memories of summertime cross country bike trip that most could only dream of, and few could ever finish.
Why ride across America, and why do it in just 34 days?
Our New CycleTo Freebie - Custom "The County" Jersey
Written by Bob Cullinan
Monday, 23 August 2010
You're probably wondering,"What is an old NBA team logo doing on a cycling site?"
If you live in the San Francisco bay area, you know that the old Warriors logo is a classic. Now, that classic has been updated for all of us who ride bikes.
Our new CycleTo freebie is a custom Capo jersey by Mike's Bikes featuring a unique take-off on the Warriors "The City" logo. "The County" is California's Marin County, the birthplace of mountain biking, and Mecca for road riders. We'll be giving this jersey away to one lucky CycleTo-er. For all the details, and to register for a shot at this new freebie, go here.
Tour of Utah Wrap-Up - Levi Wins It By Himself
Written by Bob Cullinan
Monday, 23 August 2010
Who says you need a team to win a big stage race?
Levi Leipheimer, riding as a one-man Mellow Johnny's squad, wins the general classification at the Tour of Utah, a six-day event promoted as "America's Toughest Stage Race."
Levi takes second on the final stage finish at the Snowbird Ski Resort, behind Jai Crawford of the Fly V Australia team. You've got to wonder if Jai and Levi made a deal out there on the road. "OK, you can have the win...I'm going for the GC."
Francisco Mancebo won the overall Utah title last year, riding for the long-gone Rock Racing team. This year, Mancebo settles for second as part of the local Utah team sponsored by Canyon Bicycles. Bissell's Ian Boswell is third overall.
This win caps a pretty great week for Levi...victory at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race in Colorado, and now the title at the Tour of Utah.
Tour of Utah TT - Phinney First Again, Levi Still Leads
Written by Bob Cullinan
Friday, 20 August 2010
20-year-old Taylor Phinney has proven to be the master of the flat, fast stages of this year's Tour of Utah. Add a victory in Saturday night's 9.2 mile time trial to his win in the opening prolugue on Tuesday. Phinney beats Levi Leipheimer by two seconds, but Levi keeps the lead in the general classification. Phinney is...let's see...in 95th place, 34:44 behind Levi.
Defending Utah champ Franciso Mancebo is second in GC, 1:37 behind Leipheimer, with Darren Lill in third, 1:49 back. Today, the boys will race around Park City for 75 minutes in the Heiden Davidson Orthopedics Crieterium. The Tour of Utah will wrap-up on Sunday.
Tour of Utah, Stage 2 - Levi on Top, George on the Ground
Written by Bob Cullinan
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Levi Leipheimer rode away from everyone else, without the help of a team to get him up the mountain, winning Stage 2 of the Tour of Utah atop Mt. Nebo today.
Levi's riding solo for the Mellow Johnny's team this week, in retro RadioShack kit, without the help of any of the guys he rode with at the Tour de France. But he seems to be doing OK. With the victory today, Leipheimer is now in the overall lead at Utah, with defending Utah champ Francisco Mancebo in second, 51 seconds back. Mancebo now moves up to second, behind Levi, in the general classification, with Darren Lill in third.
While Levi had a great day, BMC star George Hincapie had a pretty crappy one. Hincapie crashed-out of the race in a patch of gravel on the way to Mt. Nebo. He was taken to a local Utah hospital, but his injuries don't appear to be too serious.
In a statement released late this afternoon, BMC's U.S. press officer Sean Weide said, "U.S. national road champion George Hincapie needed 18 stitches to close a cut on his right knee and sustained abrasions to his right shoulder and face in a crash that knocked him out of the Tour of Utah on Thursday's Stage 2. Hincapie did not break any bones in the crash that occurred just before the halfway point of the 124 kilometer race from Thanksgiving Point to Mt. Nebo."
No word yet on whether or not Hincapie will be able to defend his title at the U.S. national road championships next month in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina.
Tour of Utah, Stage 1 - Two Seconds = One First
Written by Bob Cullinan
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Youth is served again today in Salt Lake City. Trek-Livestrong racer Alex Dowsett scores his second straight runner-up finish, but takes the overall lead after the first road stage of the Tour of Utah.
Dowsett was second to teammate Taylor Phinney in Tuesday night's short prologue. Today, he finished two second behind stage winner David Tanner of the Fly V Australia team, close enough to give Dowsett the lead in the general classification.
Phinney falls back big-time today, finishing 17:34 behind Dowsett. He's now in 108th place overall. Ouch.
Tanner is second in GC, with BMC teammates Brett Bookwalter, Jeff Louder and George Hincapie in 3rd, 5th and 6th. Levi Leipheimer, riding solo in the Mellow Johnny's kit, currently sits in 7th.
Our photo of the day, from Brian Hodes of VeloImages, is the scene at the start as the peloton rolls out of town in the shadows of Ogden's historic Union Station.
Tour of Utah - Phinney is Fast...and First!
Written by Bob Cullinan
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
If there were any lingering doubts about the future of cycling phenom Taylor Phinney, those doubts may have been erased last night.
Phinney beat a field of some of the best pros in America, winning the opening 2.8 mile prologue time trial in the Tour of Utah.
20-year-old Phinney blistered the Salt Lake City course in 6:02:59, just a shade under three seconds better than runner-up...and Trek-Livestrong teammate...Alex Dowsett, the current European U23 TT champion. BMC's Brett Bookwalter, last year's Utah prologue winner, was third, more than 11 second behind Phinney.
BMC teammates Jeff Louder and George Hincapie were 7th and 8th, with Levi Leipheimer in 10th, just days after winning the grueling Leadville 100 mountain bike race.
The Tour of Utah continues today, with an 85 mile road stage, beginning in Ogden and ending in Salt Lake City. We'll have great photos from Utah on CycleTo all week, courtesy of Brian Hodes of VeloImages.
Rarely do you see more hoopla for fourth place than you do for first.
Welcome to the US national criterium championship race in Glencoe, Illinois.
Since this is the race to determine the US champion, you think they'd limit the field to only Americans, right? Wrong. The top three places went to a Canadian, an Australian and an Italian. David Veilleux of the Kelly Benefit Strategies team won the race...Bernard Sulzberger of Fly V Australia was second...with Fly V's Alessandro Bazzana in third.
Bissell's Daniel Holloway is the first American...in fourth place...winning the US national pro crit title. Ken Hanson of Team Type One is fifth...and second.
Check out the gap between the winning foreigners and the top Americans, in the following video from CycleTo contributor Clark Maxwell.
This should settle the old "which is better...the road rider or the mountain biker?" argument.
Levi Leipheimer, in his first competitive off-road race and only two weeks after finishing the Tour de France, blew away the field in the annual Leadville 100 on Saturday, beating runner-up Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski by nine full minutes.
Todd Wells finished third with six-time winner Dave Wiens in fourth in the grueling Colorado mountain race.
How good was Levi today? His time of 6:16:37 is more than 12 minutes better than the course record set by Lance Armstrong...another road rider...last year. Lance pulled out of this year's Leadville 100 earlier in the week, citing a lingering hip injury he suffered at the Tour.
But this was no walk in the park for Levi. As he said via Twitter today, "That was so damn hard! One of the harder days I've ever had on a bike."
Black Long Sleeve CycleTo Jerseys - On Sale Now!
Written by Bob Cullinan
Have we got a deal for you.
With the end of summer just weeks away...heck, if you live in San Francisco, you never had a summer...we've giving you a great deal on the popular CycleTo long sleeve black jerseys.
How great is the deal? Would you believe just $49.99 for these custom Vermarc jerseys?
Quantities are limited, so if you're interested, act now before they're all gone. You can order your long sleeve black CycleTo jersey here, and if you're not sure about your size, check out the Vermarc sizing chart here.