Serious Thoughts for the Weekend (and Next Week Too)
Hi there. I’m going to be traveling for work for all of next week, and kinda doubt that I’ll have time to update my blog (though if I can, I will, so maybe check in once or twice during the week).
Before I go, though, there are three things I want to bring to your attention. All of them are important.
Thing 1: 100 Miles of Nowhere Registration
As of right now, 219 of you have registered for the 100 Miles of Nowhere (exciting pie chart showing which t-shirt colors are most popular so far at right). To those of you who have taken the time, thank you.
If you have not yet taken the time to register, please do. It’s way less expensive than it ever has been before ($39.95, with free shipping in the US and only $5 shipping outside the US).
It’s a fun, silly event, and — most importantly — it really makes a difference in the lives of kids who have a parent who is fighting (or has fought) cancer, by supporting Camp Kesem.
If you haven’t registered because you don’t think you can do this kind of distance, register anyway and do whatever distance you can. Stretch yourself; don’t worry about the rest.
If you haven’t registered because it’s getting cold and you don’t want to do this inside, register anyway and ride in the Spring. I’ll still post your race writeup when you send it.
If you haven’t registered because you feel like I’m always asking you to donate and you’re all donated out, register for this one; I’m not going to be doing fundraisers as often as I used to — one or two per year, tops.
And in short, go register for the 100 Miles of Nowhere. I’d love to see registration fill all the way up to the cap of 500 by the time I get back on the 17th. Regardless, the last day you’ll be able to register will be October 21.
Thing 2: Listen to The Paceline
I’m loving doing The Paceline (The Podcast on Two Wheels, whatever that means) with Patrick Brady and Michael Hotten of Red Kite Prayer. Every episode is fun, but this one…well, I feel like it’s important. We get a little more serious in this episode than we usually do; we consider the question of why there are no openly gay men in pro cycling.
You can listen above, get details at Red Kite Prayer, or subscribe on iTunes, Android, or via RSS.
Thing 3: Listen to the CyclingTips Podcast
I didn’t plan it this way, but for some reason this week, I wound up talking about important issues in both The Paceline and the CyclingTips podcast. Anne-Marije Rooke and I talk about prize money in cycling, and the ridiculous disconnect between how much men and women are paid. We talk to a race promoter who’s taking some important steps, as well as a woman racer, to get her perspective.
Listen above, get details at CyclingTips, subscribe on iTunes or by RSS, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play, or download it directly.
For both these podcasts, I’d love to know what you think.
See you in a week! (or hopefully sooner.)
Comment by Lin | 10.7.2016 | 10:59 am
Just signed up my husband, my son, and myself. Ordered black shirts for all of us. Happily skewing the curve!
Comment by BostonCarlos | 10.7.2016 | 11:51 am
I ADORE the paceline. Definitely my favorite thing to listen to during the week. Every week, you guys put together such a great show.
Cyclingtips podcast interests me most of the time, but on occasion, I feel like it gets too “in the woods” or too “inside baseball” for me. I’m sure more serious cyclists love that though.
I haven’t listened to the most recent episodes of either yet, but I’m sure they’re awesome. It’s 2 topics that I think you and your teams are perfect to take on.
Comment by Jared13 | 10.7.2016 | 12:29 pm
T-shirt question: Is there a way (now or later) to order another color without it counting towards the cap?
Comment by natbla | 10.7.2016 | 1:20 pm
Finally signed up for this one. Looking forward to killing myself on my 3/4 mile loop with 200 yard climb each lap. I’m sure I’ll have time to train between here and there. After all, I’ve gotten in a full 75 miles this year on the bike and another 25 miles running. Definitely going to be in shape for this event.
Comment by Skye | 10.7.2016 | 1:22 pm
I’m sure good fit is more important in a jersey than a t-shirt, but can you share any size hints about these (fun colored!) tees?
Comment by Jonathan | 10.7.2016 | 2:20 pm
OK, I’m in. I’m really looking forward to it.
Wait. No I’m not. But I’d doing it anyway because, you know, cancer; And I’m too slow to make the time cuts at the Leadville 100 so this way I can just pretend!
Comment by JCinCNY | 10.8.2016 | 10:02 am
How about a group 100MoN in Zwift?
Comment by Jon | 10.8.2016 | 6:49 pm
Ordered a kit and a pair of socks. Thank you FC for your quick feedback! Working on another rider but we shall see.
Comment by Scott R | 10.8.2016 | 8:33 pm
Skye, on the off chance it helps (since I have no idea what your size range is), I checked my last 100MoN shirt (from DNA) and I found that a 3XL from them seems like a normal 2xl (from twin six or any pretty much every other t-shirt that size I’ve ever owned)
On other Fatty offerings from DNA (t-shirt-wise) I’ve gotten a 2xl that seemed like an adult medium, and a 4xl that I could probably used to fly wingsuit-style. (I think those were a size exchange of the same shirt, I should have a picture of them somewhere)
Scott
Comment by Skye | 10.10.2016 | 11:46 am
@Scott R, Thanks!
I know one year (was it last year?) I ordered the Large t-shirt (my standard size) and ended up giving it to my sister, who weighs about 40lbs less than I and it fit her nicely. Sounds like that’s maybe not a fluke of a shirt fit experience, and I should re-size this year accordingly and just try not to let it hurt my feelings. : \
Comment by Scott R | 10.10.2016 | 11:59 am
Yup, I’d suggest thinking about it strictly as ‘DNA’ sizing. Not quite European jersey sizing, but maybe think of it that way to help it not affect the emotions. :-)
I will say they’ve been very helpful when I’ve asked sizing questions or needed to request an exchange.
I definitely had some frustration with early orders, but now that I think I know ‘my sizes’ in their stuff, I can enjoy what seems like pretty good quality.
Comment by David Harman | 10.10.2016 | 12:16 pm
I’m already registered, but I’m trying to rope in a bunch of my club buddies. Alas, no luck on the speedway, connection fell through. Gonna do it on our local .75 mile crit loop. Thinking about having a sprint lap done on a wal mart special, AKA the POSKOM lap.
Comment by Daniel Weise | 10.10.2016 | 6:24 pm
YAY!!!! I got in again this year after a 3 year respite. OMG, what have I done? I’ve only ridden a TOTAL of 48 miles all year! This is going to be interesting…at least I get to support a good cause!
Comment by Arizona Guy | 10.11.2016 | 8:44 am
Since it is a semi-fashion blog today, I thought I would post a pic from this weekend’s adventures in Moab – prominently featuring the latest FC Kit
Comment by BostonCarlos | 10.11.2016 | 12:41 pm
ok! I’ve listened to both.
I think you were right on all accounts – it’s time for equality and equity in cycling for all.
I have a question though. At the risk of sounding not how I want to sound… Why do we care so much about athlete and celebrity sexual orientation? There aren’t any “openly gay” men in the pro peloton, but how many “openly straight” men are there? I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to hide something about themselves, but I’m curious why we as spectators even care to ask.
Comment by spaceyace | 10.11.2016 | 2:50 pm
Lots of male cyclists are openly straight, we just don’t notice it because it’s the norm. Every time a male cyclist mentions his female partner (wife, fiancee, girlfriend…), or the press mentions his female partner, he’s “openly straight.”
Representations of every gender, orientation, race, etc. in a sport makes it easier for everyone in the next generation to be able to imagine themselves as part of that sport.
Same deal as any representation in any other career. A friend’s daughter recently asked, with wonder, after seeing a political ad, “Mommy, girls can be President too?”
It’s one thing to tell a kid they can do anything; it’s something else entirely for the kid to see someone “like them” in that position.
Comment by BostonCarlos | 10.12.2016 | 7:53 am
@spaceyace: thanks for the great explanation.
Comment by Jeff Dieffenbach | 10.12.2016 | 10:50 am
Following Carlos’ lead, my question is around equal pay for male and female athletes. For the record, if I were an event promoter, I’d pay out equally regardless of gender. (I might, however, have the number of paid places be a function of the number of entrants.)
In cycling, the men command far bigger television audiences than the women. Television audience size translate to money. So, is there a compelling counter argument to the assertion that men should earn more because they generate more?
FWIW, I appreciate the chicken-and-egg problem: at least part of the difference in audience size may be due to the fact that so much more is spent to draw audiences to the men’s events.
Comment by spaceyace | 10.12.2016 | 2:19 pm
@BostonCarlos: no problem! I think there are lots of other reasons, but that’s the one that makes most sense to me.
@Jeff D: I’m going with the chicken-and-egg theory – both as part of the problem and part of the solution.
Fatty, thanks so much for talking about these issues. I’ve never really been interested in following pro cycling, but when you interviewed Kathryn Bertine a few months ago I watched Half the Road and it got me more excited about the sport.
Comment by Jeff Dieffenbach | 10.12.2016 | 2:55 pm
@spaceyace, in my opinion, the best pro cycling to watch is cyclocross. Races take about an hour. The courses are super interesting. People get muddy. And the odds of crashes are high, with little chance of major injury. For instance, go to YouTube and search for “cyclocross joey”.
The major European races are typically on the weekend. Not long after a given race, you can typically find it on YouTube (you may not get the benefit of English commentating, if in fact you call that a benefit).
To find search terms for YouTube, go to the full international schedule here and put “BEL C1″ or “NED C1″ in the search box. That will filter down the number of races to consider–sort by date (noting that the date sort field is kind of wonky).
An excellent recently completed race is “Hansgrohe Superprestige Gieten.”
- Elite women’s race: https://youtu.be/I07rjmodtTY?t=172
- Elite men’s race: https://youtu.be/I07rjmodtTY?t=5566
And, if you just want to see highlights of the men’s race (with spoiler at the beginning), check this out, it was a particularly great race.
http://nos.nl/video/2135580-van-der-poel-wint-na-schitterend-gevecht-met-van-aert.html
Comment by Jeff Dieffenbach | 10.12.2016 | 2:56 pm
^ Full schedule:
http://www.cxmagazine.com/2016-2017-uci-cyclocross-calendar-world-cup-c1-c2-national-championships
Comment by spaceyace | 10.13.2016 | 3:36 pm
@Jeff D – thanks! lol at “And the odds of crashes are high, with little chance of major injury.” Schadenfreude, but not too much? :) I will check those out.