BIKEY IS BACK!

Hi All,

For a wide number of reasons, BIKEY took a little holiday these last few weeks. This is mainly because there hasn't been a significant running/cycling/swimming/triathlon event these last 6 or so weeks. But a lot has happened, and I'm hoping to get you caught up on the various topics in the next few paragraphs.

Okay, ever since Kona, the triathlon world has been very quiet. A few small Southern Hemisphere races (Ironman Western Australia, Port of Tauranga Half, Ironman 70.3 South Africa this weekend) with mainly Aussie/Kiwi athletes have done little to get fans very excited. Most of the top ITU and non-drafting (Ironman) pros have spent most of the past two months recovering for 2009 and starting to get their 2010 training started. We are still two months away from Oceanside (Ironman 70.3 California) which really kicks off the North American tri season.

Some scary news for Chrissie Wellington, who crashed her bike on a January 2nd ride and broke her right arm, wrist, and a couple fingers. Oops. Fortunately, she'll be fine in about 6 weeks, and as the picture below shows, it hasn't affected her bike training or her ever-present smile...


Pro Cycling News: Lots.
1. Lance is back. We knew that. But he did announce that he will race for 2 more years with his new team. So he will be trying to win the Tour de France in both 2010 and 2011 with Team RadioShack. Team Radioshack also has very ugly jerseys and bikes (see below) but I guess after Astana and Team Discovery I shouldn't be surprised...

Lance and his new team will have their first race start this weekend for the Tour Down Under. It's actually a pretty impressive field, with most of the big pro teams lined up to start the week-long race. Although it might get less press than last year's race (which was Lance's first race back from retirement), the race will feature riders like Cadel Evans, George Hincapie, Alejandro Valverde and a ton of good Australians like Stuart O'Grady, Robbie McEwen, and last year's winner Allan Davis. The only Canadian in the race will be Christian Meier on Garmin (should not be confused with Cameron Meyer - his teammate who just won the Australia national championships). Should be a great race.

December also included the (finally) move of Bradley Wiggins from Team Garmin to Team Sky. This move had been rumored for months, with allegations and denials flying back and forth for months. Eventually, money won out and Team Sky got their leader. He'll be their main Grand Tour hope in 2010 and beyond while Team Garmin regroups behind Christian Vande Velde. Unfortunately for Team Sky, they too picked some really ugly team uniforms for 2010. The tall guy with the glasses in the picture is Canadian Michael Barry, who is now with what seems like his 10th pro team. He has ridden with USPS, Discovery Channel, T-Mobile, Columbia-HTC, and now Team Sky. A pretty impressive career, but Barry still has never started the Tour de France. Will 2010 be the year?

Astana has also ironed out their contract with Alberto Contador and their own PorTour status for 2010. They are almost an entirely new team this year, with really only Contador and Benjamin Noval back from last years team. But they have added Oscar Pereiro and a few other Spanish riders to help Contador win a few more big races in 2010. Astana has flipped from Trek bikes to Specialized, and has added some more colour (yellow and red) to their jerseys for 2010. At least they'll be easy to see...


2010 is shaping up as a huge year, with many stories to play out in the next 6 or so months. Who will win the battle between Lance and Alberto? Can Andy Schleck take the next step? Will Team Sky be a factor? Can Cavendish be defeated? What will happen with race radios? Who will get caught doping (hopefully no one but let's be real)? It should be a great year. Here is what Bicycling Magazine is looking forward to...

A big weekend in American running ahead, with both the Phoenix and Houston marathons and half-marathons being run this weekend. The biggest name competing is Ryan Hall, who is running the half in Phoenix as a tune-up for Boston in April. He is the American record-holder (59:43 in Houston) and might aim at lowering it this year. Hall was once the great shining hope for US running, but his lack of wins the last two years and the impressive win by Meb Keflezighi in New York might have pushed him off the front page. Let's hope he has a great year in 2010 and finally breaks through to win an international event. Deena Kastor is also racing Houston, where she too will be preparing for a spring marathon. Kastor is coming back after injuries have cost her parts of the last two years, and at age 37 only has a few more years of high level running. Tara Quinn-Smith, who is probably in the Top 2 or 3 marathoners in Canada, will be running the Houston Marathon. She has an outside chance at winning...

We are still awaiting word on the official update to the Caster Semenya story. Although she still hasn't been cleared to compete as a female in 2010, she is already making race plans to do so. Perhaps, she is as bored waiting for the "official inquiry" to be complete as many of us track fans are. It is still possible that the IAAF could rule she has a gender advantage over other female athletes and ban her from competing. In any case, the biggest story of 2009 outside of Usain Bolt threatens to still be a story well into 2010.


One more great running story that must get mentioned...a Calgary man is trying to run 5 marathons. Every week. For a YEAR! Yep, Martin Parnell is trying to run 250 marathons in 2010, in and around Calgary and Cochrane. He is doing this to try and raise funds for Right to Play. His goal is $250,000. Amazing. You can follow him (and donate funds) on marathonquest250.com, and even join him for one of his daily marathons!


I'll end with a really cool video. In North America, we use our bikes for fitness, commuting, or sometime as a clothes-hanger. In China, cycles can be weapons...here's the Youtube description. Two thieves on a motor-scooter flew by and snatched a womans purse on a street in Wenzhou, China. Surveillance video shows a man riding a bicycle. As he was passing by the front of a hotel near where the thievery happened, he stopped, calmly got off his bicycle, picked it up, and then threw it at the thieves. The bicycle hit them, they lost control, and crashed to the ground.



See you next week for more...