Rafa leads the boys
The Mighty Reds on bikes
Michael Jackson
Lance Armstrong's Astana team was fined on Monday after failing to sign on within the specified time at the start of the third stage of the Tour de France.Heavy traffic in Marseille city centre meant Astana broke the organizers' rule that teams must register for the stage at least 20 minutes before the start of the race.
The Kazakhstan-backed cycling team have been fined 65 euros for the infringement.
"How typical that this team were late. It is disrespectful to the public who came here just to see Armstrong," said race director Jean-Francois Pescheux.
"The money makes no difference to them.
"We will ask the UCI to make the fines harder."
Before the start, Armstrong was seen sharing a cup of coffee with actor Ben Stiller, who was visiting the Tour's VIP area on Monday morning.
Armstrong had a cameo role in the 2004 movie Dodgeball in which Stiller starred. It wasn't clear whether the coffee stop contributed to the delay in signing in.
Source: Velo News/ photo from supertouchart.com
Cycling might be one of the best ways of improving your cardiovascular health, but a recent study has confirmed that if the only exercise you do is road cycling, you might well be putting yourself at risk of osteoporosis.Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a disease characterised by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue over time, leading to fragility and an increased risk of fractures of the hip, spine and wrist.
Cyclists are also at risk of osteopenia, or sub-normal bone density. A one percent decrease in density increases fracture risk by up to five percent.
The study, which appeared in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, compared the lower spine bone densities of a group of competitive male cyclists against a control group of moderately active men who did other sports. The cyclists had considerably lower spinal bone densities, despite having a greater calcium intake.
A similar study was published in the journal Metabolism in 2007, which compared road cyclists and runners between the ages of 20 and 59. It found that 63 percent of the cyclists had osteopenia of the spine or hip, compared with 19 percent of the runners.
Apparently, it’s the lack of impact in our sport that can lead to low bone density, especially in the lower back, which remains immobile and shock-free when riding on smooth roads. Ironically, cycling’s lack of impact is precisely what makes the sport so practicable for older riders.
The problem can be exacerbated by riders in hard training too, since they might not be eating enough and are burning up essential bone-building nutrients such as vitamin D and calcium with their hardcore training.
It seems that cross-training is the key to a healthy bone mass, with running and ball sports being ideal.
“When it comes to bone health,” says Dr Claire Bowring of the National Osteoporosis Society, “cyclists need to add some weight-bearing exercise to their training.”
As an illustration, Dr Bowring went on to explain the effect of force on bone health in professional tennis players: “Players were found to have more than 25 percent higher bone density in their serving arm,” says Bowring. “But running, dancing or any exercise where you’re supporting the weight of your body helps build strong bones.”
Changes in bone density can develop over decades, but the early 20s for men – when most will consider themselves at the peak of their physical condition – are critical for achieving optimal bone mass.
But if you don’t like running or ball sports and you strictly won’t go dancing, there is another way of building up your bones. The answer lies in a previous study published in a 2002 issue of Bone magazine, which found that mountain bikers had considerably higher bone density than the sample road cyclists. It seems that bumpy trails will give your skeleton all the impact it needs to stimulate bone growth and it will improve your bike handling and recovery rate in leaps and bounds too.
Consume less:
Eat more:
The multimillion-pound campaign, first aired during the Brit Awards on ITV this year, marked the Welsh singer's first outing as the new face of Diet Coke. In the ad she is seen cycling the streets at night singing a cover of Sammy Davis Jr's I Gotta Be Me.
The Advertising Standards Authority received 22 complaints that the ad either "condoned behaviour prejudicial to health and safety", because she was not seen wearing reflective clothing or using lights, or that it was irresponsible because children might copy her behaviour.
Coca-Cola said it carried out a "vigorous" assessment of highway code regulations. Duffy had been wearing a black and white sequined top that reflected light and gave her a "luminous glow" so that she stood out in the dark. The soft drinks company added that the bike had lights.
The authority said the cycling sequence was clearly "unreal and fantastical" and the ad was not shown around programmes children were likely to be watching.
Source: theguardian.co.uk/ YouTube
I just bought this SHIMANO PD-A530 pedal to replace my old Eggbeater and tried it out yesterday. Despite having just 1 entry for the cleat compared to 4 with the Eggbeater, I think this pedal is simply awesome!
