Official Tour of Utah Leaders Jerseys by Blackbottoms Cyclewear
2008 Tour of Utah Jerseys
The five stage Tour of Utah starts tomorrow with seventeen professional teams battling it out over five days. Encompassing more than 330 miles and containing more than 30,000 feet of climbing, the Tour of Utah is poised to beat even the strongest riders into submission. For those that are able to conquer the grueling climbs, the blistering sprints, and the individual time trial, they’ll be able to show it off with some great looking jerseys.
You can get the same jerseys worn by the leaders. Blackbottoms Cyclewear has the official Tour of Utah leaders jerseys available on their website. All five are made from 100% microfiber polyester for superb moisture control properties. Here are the jerseys available:
- Yellow – Commemorative 2008 Jersey and overall leaders jersey
- Green – Sprinters Jersey
- Red – Best Utah Rider
- Polka Dot – King of the Mountains
- Blue – Best Young Rider
Images of the jerseys graciously provided by Blackbottoms Cyclewear.
Read MoreRock Racing Meetup on 16-Aug
If you’re going to be at the Tour of Utah this week you’re not going to want to miss this opportunity. Rock Racing will be at Contender Bicycles in Salt Lake City on Saturday, 16-August. Tyler Hamilton and Fast Freddie will be there signing autographs. Thanks to Cycling Fan for making this info available.
Read MoreA Tale of Two Bicycle Shops – Bought new tires today
Well, if you read Ride 24, you know that I’m way, way overdue for some new tires. My old tires have been on my bike 15 years and seen who knows how many miles. I by no means road all those years but I did ride some. I think dry rot was the biggest factor in their deterioration. Regardless, I had to have a new set.
Friday I had called around looking for a new set and getting some prices for comparison. I had been to a shop ‘A’ earlier in the week and they had some Bontrager Selects for $18 per tire. I called shop ‘B’ and they had the Bontrager Select K for $19. The difference between the Select and Select K is that the Select K has a kevlar belt to help with flat protection. While my gut told me to go to shop ‘A’ (because I liked that shop better, the people were nicer, and the prices good) I decided to go to shop ‘B’ to get the Ks. I was willing to pay the extra $1 for the kevlar belt.
I show up at shop ‘B’ and tell the guy at the counter I need a pair of Bontrager Select Ks in 700×23. The guy leaves and comes back a couple minutes later. He asks me again what I need. I tell him and he proceeds to look at me like I’ve got two heads. I tell him again. He leaves, can’t find’em and gets another employee to help. I walk over and they’re looking at tubular tires that are folded up on a rack. I think some of them are even MTB tires. They turn around and ask me again. I tell’em again and emphasize that it’s the one with the kevlar belt. The room immediately became brighter as two light bulbs came on. They turned around and headed to the back where the clinchers were hanging on the wall. While they’re gone I head over to look at the new Trek Madones and Cervelos. I’m sure I left a puddle of drool on the floor.
A few more minutes has gone by and one of the employees comes up to me with two tires. They’re the Selects not the Select Ks. He proceeds to explain to me that even though the computer says they have six in stock that, in fact, they don’t have any. He asks if I want the Selects or if I want them to order the Select Ks and I tell him, “No. Thanks.” I head over to Shop ‘A’ and pick up the Selects from them. I show up at Shop ‘A’, tell the guy what I want, he’s back less then a minute later with exactly what I need and I’m done. Amazing.
Why didn’t I just go ahead and buy the Selects from Shop ‘B’? Well, because this is the second time Shop ‘B’ has demonstrated themselves to not be organized or helpful. The first was a couple of months ago when I went in to have myself measured for a new saddle. The guy that came out to help made me feel like I was interrupting him, he couldn’t figure out how to make the sit bone fitting tool to work, and I left with having wasted 30 minutes. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and gave them a chance at redemption with the tires. They again showed they weren’t ready for my business.
I’m now committed to shop ‘A’. Why? A few days ago I was in there and found CO2 cartridges that were half the price of another shop (call it Shop ‘C’), last week they treated my wife good when she was in there to surprise me with some new tubes, their customer service is good, and they have in stock what they say they have. They take care of the customer. That’s 99% of running a successful business in my book.
Well, now I have two new tires that I’ll install today and be ready to ride come Monday.
(Jaxgtr, Shop ‘A’ (my favorite) is the same one we talked about via email.)
I’d be interested in hearing your stories about choosing your favorite LBS.
Read MoreRide 24: A half-mile of bliss
Trying to get back into my normal routine, my alarm went off promptly at 5:00 AM. I had prepared everything the night before so it was easy getting ready. I was excited to head out and ride again.
I opened the garage door and stepped out. Man it was humid. It’s supposed to be 96F today so I’m not surprised. I close the garage door, turn on the front and rear lights, clip in and set out on my first ride in a month and the first since my crash.
I get out of my neighborhood and out onto the main road. There’s very little traffic. I pulled into the turn lane to make a right turn and then, “BAM! WWWWWWSSSSSSHHHHHH!” Not a simple “WWSSHH.” This was a catastrophic “BAM!” and I was flat. I was barely a half-mile from home so I just turned around and walked back. I didn’t even think about trying to fix it.
Upon returning home I did a quick inspection and found a large (about half the size of my little finger fingernail) hole a few inches from the stem. How did that happen? I had just replaced the tube a couple of days ago so I could have pinched the tube between the tire and rim but I had inspected it after replacing it so I don’t feel that’s it. I did a quick inspection of the tire and couldn’t find anything obvious so I don’t know. I know my tires need replacement so that could be it. This evening I’ll perform a better inspection and see if I can find a solution. The problem could be my mediocre bicycle repair skills but I believe the culprit is the tires.
Why do I think it’s the tires? Well, if you look at them they look unsafe. The tread is ‘ok’ but the sidewalls are in bad shape. You want to know the bad part? This is embarrassing but, in my attempt to be totally honest with you, I have to admit that these are the original tires that came on my bike. For those of you not aware of my entire story, that puts these tires age at about 15 years. Yes, 15 years. How many miles? I don’t know. A lot. Was I riding on borrowed time? Absolutely. Should I have replaced these tires years ago? Yes. Should I have replaced them a couple of months ago when I was getting the Cannondale ready to ride? Yes. I have no excuses. Feel free to read me the riot act in your comments. I deserve it.
So, my return to riding following my crash didn’t go nearly as well as I had planned. Out of my last four rides I’ve had two flats, a crash, and one good ride. I’m getting the feeling that somebody is trying to tell me something. I will persevere though. Two new tires and a new tube will be purchased this week so I can try again.
For those expecting to visit the site today and read about another great ride I can assure you that I’m as disappointed as you are. I guess it’s times like this that will really show us how committed we are to something.
Read MoreI’m still around but healing
I tell you, the crash in Ride 23 has just ruined my ability to exercise. My shoulder is fine now. It was sore for a few days but is 100% good to go now. My knee is whats causing all my problems. I believe when I hit the sidewalk I bruised my knee pretty bad. It’s till tender around the edges and one of the scarpes I have is just below the knee cap. It hurts everytime I bend or move it. I’ve started icing the whole area twice a day and that seems to be doing some good. I do believe it’s getting better each day but it’s taking longer than I expected. It’s killing me to not be able to ride. This just sucks.
In the meantime, I’ve been making a huge push with my mortgage acceleration business. I sent out a bunch of marketing packages earlier this week to local realtors and will follow up today with phone calls. If you haven’t heard of this program, I invite you to check it out. I can show you how to own your home free and clear in one-half to one-third the time and potentially save tens of thousands in interest. All this without refinancing, without changing your monthly mortgage payment, and without adjusting your current living lifestyle. To find out if this program is right for you, and to see if you qualify, is free. Contact me if you want to know more.
Read MoreCONNECT WITH BTL
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