Tour De France Cyclists Make It Past Dreaded Underwater Stage!

FRANCE—Luxembourger Frank Schleck, a rider with the CSC team, emerged from the 182-kilometer underwater tunnel stage Monday triumphantly clad in a soaked yellow jersey after braving electric seaweed, underwater volcanoes, cyclist-trapping bubble fountains, carnivorous plants, man-eating fish, and electric eels. "These stages are always a pain," said a visually exhausted Schleck, who went on to complain about the stage's lack of turbo zones and power-ups. More...

LeTour de Birmingham-Stage 2...this Saturday, July 10th at Birmingham Bicycle Co.!

Le Tour de France at le bike shop!

Every year in July we kick back at the shop and watch the Tour de France. This year is no exception, we will have the live broadcast on in the morning and have the re-broadcast on at lunch. Please stop by and crash on the couch, have a sandwich for the Big Blue Bagel and enjoy watching the worlds greatest race. Can't make it to the shop but still need your fix? Watch the coverage on Steephill.tv. There is a wide variety of links to the live day to day coverage  along with route profiles, weather, etc.

Phys Ed: What Exercise Science Doesn’t Know About Women?

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS


Several years ago, Dr. David Rowlands, a senior lecturer with the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in New Zealand, set out to study the role of protein in recovery from hard exercise. He asked a group of male cyclists to ride intensely until their legs were aching and virtually all of their stored muscle fuel had been depleted. The cyclists then consumed bars and drinks that contained either mostly carbohydrates or both carbohydrates and protein. Then, over the next few days, they completed two sessions of hard intervals. One took place the following morning; the next, two days later. Dr. Rowlands found that the cyclists showed little benefit during the first interval session. But during the second, the men who ingested protein had an overall performance gain of more than 4 percent, compared with the men who took only carbohydrates, “which is huge, in competitive terms,” Dr. Rowlands says. More...

Jason is RAAMing it!

Our service manager, Jason Barksdale was choosen to crew  for Team Type 1 for this years edition of RAAM (Race Across America). You can follow Jason's adventure on his Facebook page. Jason is the lead mechanic for the 8 man team and is currently somewhere in the Rockies. You can follow the route and progress of all the teams at RAAM website. In addition you can find out all kinds of other info at the RAAM webiste including the insane solo division. Check it out!