Back in December of 2007, now women’s individual time trial gold medalist, Kristin Armstrong took a trip to Beijing to do a test run on the time trial course.  She rode the 15 mile course while using her husbands GPS device (doesn’t say which one) to log the elevation profile of the ride.

When she got home to Boise, Idaho, she used Google Earth to trace the entire course with the GPS coordinates she logged in Beijing.  She was then able to design a training schedule locally that best matched the elevations of the Olympic course.  Not only that, but she was able to use the satellite views of Google Earth to get a birds eye view of the course and commit it all to memory.

Overall, a very good way to use multiple technologies that many of us have access to already.

Full Article [Google Lat Long Blog]

Ricardo Ricco’s former team sure hasn’t had much luck with keeping sponsors lately.  Scott Bicycles has announced that they will no longer sponsor the Spanish ProTour team, Scott-American Beef, formerly named Saunier Duval.

Saunier Duval dropped their sponsorship of the team in July, after Ricco and teammate Leonardo Piepoli were caught using EPO-CERA during the Tour de France.  Scott announced that they would continue to sponsor the Spanish team, but it looks like it wasn’t meant to be.

I suppose they’ll be called the American Beef team now?  It sounds a bit strange for a cycling team name…

Ride the City is a relatively new google maps mashup that is set to help NYC cyclists get to their destination in the safest possible way.

It’s a pretty great concept if it works as well as they advertise, as it could mean safer trips for cyclists while also raising awareness for people that hadn’t considered a certain route for commuting, etc.

RTC considers streets with bike lanes to be shorter than they actually are. This is slightly exaggerated on the ’safe route’ and more exaggerated on the ’safest route.’ The result is that the ’safest route’ will direct you out of your way to the nearest greenway, bike lane, or street segment that users have suggested to us.

Hopefully the Ride the City folks can expand to more cities than just NYC soon.

ridethecity.com [via]

Treehugger.com does a great job of breaking down a new study which shows a few major benefits of new no-nose saddles (pictured).  They are quick to point out that saddles are not seats, you aren’t meant to sit on them (which we explain in our newbie tip: picking the right saddle).  This generally works for people who are continuously on the move, but for cyclists like bike police who spend much of the time biking slowly, a saddle turns into a seat.

New no-nose saddles are starting to become popular amongst bike police.  From the study:

…use of the noseless saddle resulted in a reduction in saddle contact pressure in the perineal region. There was a significant improvement in penile tactile sensation, and the number of men indicating they had not experienced genital numbness while cycling for the preceding 6 months rose from 27 percent to 82 percent using no-nose saddle…

Treehugger also put together a great set of points for those of you who are worried about causing problems with your sex lives.

…my concern is that people will think cycling is going to somehow ruin their sex lives and avoid riding. If you are one of those people, remember a few key points:

1)exercise is good for sexual health! Sitting in a car and cubicle every day is not a recipe for studliness.
2)with proper bike fit cycling should be numbness and pain free
3)experiment with different saddles–nose as well as no-nose. Everyone’s physiology is different and there are myriad saddle styles to choose from. Here’s a little tip, though: don’t go with the saddle that feels softest to the touch, and do a reasonably-long ride on a saddle before making a decision!

Regardless of if you agree with this study or not, the fact of the matter is that there are numerous ways to ensure that cycling is comfortable, safe and fun for all.

Read the full Treehugger article here

The full study published here

We missed this one when it was first announced, but you may have as well, so we may as well cover it.  Colnago’s new frame for 2009, the CX-1, is a carbon fiber monocoque frame that is designed for the road.

The monocoque frame is built with a monocoque front triangle and an assembled rear triangle, being first sourced in Taiwan with final assembly taking place in Italy.

The new CX-1 is also going to be the lightest from Colnago at 995g.  It will be available in eight sizes when released with top tube lengths from 51-59).

The price is expected at approximately $4,000, and released in October or November of this year.

Read more at BikeRadar, and Cycling Weekly.