Team Milram captain Linus Gerdemann has won the opening stage of the 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico (March 10-16).

Team Milram's Linus Gerdemann (Germany) wins first stage and takes race lead.

Team Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt moves into overall lead.

Peter Sagan (Team Liquigas) wins stage; Jens Voigt (Team Saxo Bank) takes overall race lead.

I don’t really know the full story here, but got this sent to me today, seems there is a bit of a dust up over the New England Velodrome.

New England Velodrome & Cycling Park
www.nevelodrome.com

Cycling for All!
January 2009- Vol 2, Issue 1
Thank you!

Dear Fellow Cyclists, volunteers, parents, sponsors and friends,

It is never easy convey disappointing news to friends and the task becomes more difficult when as in this case the news comes without warning and is the direct result of an intentional and calculated scheme by those who on numerous occasions professed to be in support of our project all the while studying our organization and planning to take over control for themselves.

First and foremost, the New England Velodrome & Cycling Park, thanks all of you for your many contributions over the past 5 years. Without you believing in, supporting and in many cases contributing sweat equity to our grass roots project the New England Velodrome and Cycling Park would have never gotten off the ground. It has been our pleasure to meet you all and to have had you as part of our cycling family.

Unfortunately, our collective efforts were brushed aside in the face of few more dollars. This morning, March 10, 2010, I was informed that someone had offered the owner of the property an increased monthly rent to take over control of the track, as well as the BMX and Cyclocross courses. This turn of events is in itself was upsetting to hear, however, it has also just come to light that this planned takeover was orchestrated by Jeff Palter and Kurt Begman of Cycleloft who attended our track and disingenuously expressed their support of what we had accomplished through hard work coupled with a collective passion for cycling. One can attempt to justify such actions on the basis of cold hard economics or in the interests of allegedly improving a product however the true reality is that this act is fueled by bruised egos and the desire to buy a concern after others have done the grunt work in establishing its viability. In short this act is contrary to very atmosphere many of you have fostered and come to expect from the New England Velodrome and Cycling Park and its staff.

Make no mistake about it, this was not a mutual decision nor was it necessitated by our own wish to turn over the cycling park to more “experienced hands”. This development came as a complete surprise, one we certainly did not anticipate on the eve of the upcoming cycling season. At this point we had sponsors on board, grants on the way and the schedule was complete. We tell you this only to assure you that the staff of the New England Velodrome and Cycling Park was 100% committed to the success of New England Velodrome & Cycling Park and it saddens all of us to have to deliver this news to you.

It is disturbing and disheartening to know that someone from the cycling community would do this behind our backs and with a vindictive motive. That being said, our sponsors and alliances are behind us in our venture to find a new home for the New England Velodrome & Cycling Park and Velocity BMX.

At this time we have no further information about what these new track owners plan to do and can not comment on how things will be run. We do know that the staff at New England Velodrome and Cycling Park did everything it could to make this work and offered as much as possible, but given the calculated nature and timing of these events it just wasn’t enough. Also, the staff of the New England Velodrome & Cycling Park will not be associated in any way with this type of business because it shows a lack of respect for the sport of cycling, the community, and the riders who made it all possible.

In conclusion, on behalf of the New England Velodrome and Cycling Park, I would like to extend my gracious appreciation and heartfelt thanks to all of you for seeing a similar vision, helping to nurture and develop it and sharing the common spirit inherent in this sport. I wish everyone the best of luck in the future and I promise to continue my pursuit of developing an indoor cycling park here in New England.

Sincerely, Tony Eberhardt

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• Boston Velodrome (!?!?) Do Want!
• Track Racing Seminar
• Track Racing Seminar
• New England Track Championships
• New England Track Championships – August 5th & 6th
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Swwwwweeeeeet!

Whenever I meet someone who finds out that I work on the directions team for Google Maps, the first question I’m asked is often “So when’s Google Maps going to add biking directions?” We’re big biking fans too, so we’ve been itching to give you a concrete answer. I don’t want to keep the good news a secret any longer, so the answer is: right now!

Today we’ve added biking directions and extensive bike trail data to Google Maps for the U.S. My team has been keeping close tabs on all the public support for biking directions that’s been steadily coming in, but we knew that when we added the feature, we wanted to do it right: we wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes. So that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Let’s say you want to bike to work, or maybe you want to drive less and spend more time outdoors. Biking directions can help you find a convenient and efficient route that makes use of dedicated bike trails or lanes and avoids hills whenever possible. To find biking directions, select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu when you do a directions search:

Read more here

* Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
* Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
* Dashed green indicates roads that are designated as preferred for bicycling, but without dedicated lanes

This is actually pretty awesome, and you can help it get better by using the report a problem link (bottom right of the map), basically this is what Boston has needed for a long time, a dynamic, user editable bike map of the city that can be collaborated on by thousands of bikers at all hours of the day and night.

Just to be silly I wanted to see what this could do so I typed in Boston to Ohio and low and behold in a mere 3 days and 11 hours google say I could be enjoying the midwest…As this grows it could be a boon to bike riders the world over.

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• New Bike Lane On Columbus Ave.
• Bike Lanes Pop Up On Washington Street Near Downtown
• The City Of Boston Has Been Busy Making Maps
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Message by Jered Gruber
Powermeters have long been a chore to setup, maintain, and always demanded a distinct weight penalty. Things are changing though - with the explosion of ANT+ wireless resulting in the fantastic Garmin 705, continued developments in PowerTap hub design, and the completely redesigned Zipp 404s, well, the future is now.

Message by Edmond Hood
James Moss (Endura Racing) first spoke to us before Xmas; it was his intention to do a neo-pro’s blog for us from the Tour of the Med, Haut Var, and the Tour of Murcia. However, the life of a pro cyclist being as it is, it didn’t come to pass due to a variety of factors, not least being dud wi-fi; Caisse d’Epargne mistaking the first stage of the Tour of the Med for the Olympic team pursuit final and - oh yes, his hitting the tarmac at 56 kph.

Roadcycling.com's Thomas A. Valentinsen talks with Cervelo TestTeam's Philip Deignan in Algarve, Portugal about riding for Cervelo TestTeam, his preparations and goals for the 2010 season, about almost quitting cycling, and about escaping to Europe without telling your parents.

I am getting reports that someone (larger guy with blue bike) was hit and maybe killed by a camry running a red light while on a cellphone on Stratmore St in Brighton, the report I got was that there was a lot of blood and that the cyclist didn’t get up. Does anyone know anything about this? I will continue to update this post with details.

To all the drivers out there, pay attention, your moment of inattention might transform you from a motorist to a murderer. To all the cyclists out there, keep your head on a swivel, paying attention is always a good idea.

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My friend Alex drew these, she is amazing!

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William Bonnet wins stage two; Lars Boom (Team Rabobank) keeps overall lead.

Boom keeps lead at Paris-Nice.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong (Team RadioShack) has arrived in South Africa ahead of his appearance in the Cape Argus cycling race.

Team HTC-Columbia will field a strong mix of all-rounders and sprinters for the 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts tomorrow in the coastal city of Livorno, Italy.

Message by Alessandro Federico
Roadside PEZ: I confess. I couldn’t wait to get there. It was snowing last Friday, on the Adriatic coast. A bad winter afternoon, probably one of the last. Where is the Primavera? It was snowing but I was looking forward to chase one of the most alluring races of the Pro calendar. It’s just four years old but smells of the good old times. Has not past, but finds on the dusty gravel its future. It’s the Strade Bianche or, if you prefer, the Eroica.

Message by Josh Horowitz
First, I want to thank everyone for sending me their goals. They are now posted at LiquidFitness.com. OK, on to the Pistachio diet, and a different way of looking at nutrition labels, eating, and weight control based on glycemic index.

Team Sky's Greg Henderson won a sprint Monday to take the first stage of the 2010 Paris-Nice and Team Rabobank's Lars Boom maintained the overall race lead.

Gert Steegmans (Team RadioShack), who crashed in yesterday's prologue of the 2010 Paris-Nice, has been successfully operated on by Dr. Lenaert and his colleagues of the OLV van Lourdes Hospital in Waregem, Belgium.

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador lost time on the leaders and suffered a painful knock to his leg when he crashed towards the end of the first stage of the 2010 Paris-Nice.