What I've been up to.....Yahoo cycling.....Landis' book.....not losing weight.....Top 20 male/female athletes.....cycling tickets & sexiest players.....

So far you have heard from Rick Crawford and our entire diary team here at NashvilleCyclist.com, but that's just the beginning!  There's another interview in the works that should parlay into another diarist joining the squad.  The next one should make you say "whoa", and after that it's just going to snowball from there.  I suggest visiting the site everyday because you never know what I have lined up!

Here are a few other things I am working on besides diaries, interviews and website content:

1)  I am working through some serious wrinkles with TBRA on several topics and rules they are either implementing or considering for 2010.  Quite a few of their ideas are just plain terrible decisions for road racing in Tennessee, in my opinion as the former Road Director and racer here in our great state.  At some point soon I will probably put together a specific blog post to address the issues of concern.

2 )  I am nailing down paperwork and flyer for my March 21st training criterium, the NashvilleCyclist.com Spring Training Criterium 2010!  I should be able to post information and the flyer soon. 

3)  I have been talking to the Tennessee Titans about dates for the Wednesday night criterium series.  After a few other objectives are cleared I will decide on the dates and complete my paperwork.  The way it looks now we will start in late May and go through the usual month of August.  I am excited to start the series earlier this year, unlike last year's July start due to venue use negotiations.  As it stands right now there could be about 11 total races in the series, up from 9 total in 2009.  I have said it many times before but I must say it again, the operations team with the Tennessee Titans are awesome to work with!  You may not be a Titans football team fan, but I can promise you their ops team was undefeated last season!

4) As far as my other race promotion in July, well, I have work to do on that one.  Now that I am not promoting the TN State TT I am having to look at my options.  I still very much want to promote a TBRA Road Series points event, but the final date and actual race details need to be worked out.  Though one thought that keeps entering my head is to host a team time trial!  What do you think about that?  I am involved in those quite a bit at the collegiate level, and I can tell you it's an exciting discipline that I would love to see take shape in Tennessee.

Moving on, as you know my IE favorites is usually cluttered with all kinds of interesting cycling related links along with a few non-cycling.  It's time to clean out the clutter a little.....

Ikeman Cycling Launches Yahoo! Cycling Team
This is good for cycling on many levels.  I think it's a testament to our sport that a brand like Yahoo would step into the arena and invest in a team.  They appear to be focused more as a regional California team, but to have a Silicon Valley corporation with the clout of Yahoo is a very positive sign.  I have not read all the fine details of their ambitions, but I would suspect this has the potential to grow into something much larger in the future.  If that comes to fruition then it will be a strong signal to other corporate officers that cycling is a wise investment.

Landis wins Bahamas time trial
As you read from Thacker's diary post "Hurt Locker" he got to compete against Landis and hang out with him a little in the Bahamas.  I wonder if he gave some insight as to what the title of his new book will be?  Landis says he'll be living in a shack behind the car wash, well, that's a good opening chapter at least!

6 Suprising reasons you're not losing weight
These aren't that surprising at all, but I do have a 7th and 8th to add for cyclists.  #7 - your training intensity is too hard during the winter months, and #8 - managing your diet without considering the Glycemic Index of food, which leads to you eating certain foods at the wrong time of day.  When you combine these two you have a recipe for either maintaining current weight or actually gaining weight.  I realize many cyclists are baffled by this, but what you eat, when you eat it, along with your training intensity and volume all greatly impact the number on the scale.

Rockstars or not?
I vote no for sure, unless they pick up a guitar and jam it on stage at the Ryman.

Cycling jerseys that make a statement
Maybe we should make this the official jersey of Be There or Get Slower.  What do you think?  I'm down.

Winning with Johan
I have watched a few of these small videos of Johan Bruyneel on Versus, pretty cool I must say.  If there's one thing technology can be credited with it is that it has broken down all barriers of communication and encourages us to share ourselves with one another.  I am definitely a much more open person because of NashvilleCyclist.com, that is for dang sure.

2000s: Top 20 Male Athletes
Lance peaked at 4th spot.  Usain Bolt has yet to earn a top 5 spot, he's fast, but not so fast to leap that far ahead of the others on the list.  He came on to the scene just two years ago.  That would be like placing Mark Cavendish in the top 10; nope, sorry.

2000s: Top 20 Female Athletes
I don't think you can argue with Serena Williams, but of course there are no women professional cyclists on the list which is dominated by tennis and basketball.  Who do you think should be there?

Fort Collins council OKs bicyclist surcharge
I could be talked into being in favor of something like this for cyclists in Tennessee.  I'm confident steps could be taken to appropriately write a law that would hold us cyclists accountable.  The long term result I believe would be we earn the respect of motorists because now we would get the same treatment they would for moving violations.  One argument I believe I'd fight for is for our bicycling tickets to not affect our motor vehicle driving record though.

Lastly.....

Nashville Sports Leagues' Sexiest Players
Alright, I am considering one of several things here.  First, I am even more motivated now to create a "Ladies of NashvilleCyclist.com" calendar.  Yeah you read that right.  Hot area cyclists got left out of this expose from MetroMix, bummer.  Second, I think I am joining the Nashville adult kickball league!