Normally when I think of urban assault riding, I think of the kind of riding Orion used to do in Madison all the time. He’d ride up or down flights of stairs, jump off various benches, curbs, and public art on the UW campus, and ride around inside campus buildings. He was quite literally assaulting his urban environment.

I’ve never been much for the urban assault riding, myself. For one thing, I don’t like getting tickets, and I generally obey traffic laws while riding my bike. If you’re not supposed to ride on the sidewalks, I’m fairly sure they don’t want you riding in or on the buildings or public art. And I also have a nice scar on my ankle that reminds me of the time I had a little liquid courage and tried to ride Orion’s bike up some outdoor stairs in Madison. I bled a little bit when I fell, and when I dropped the bike, I bent Orion’s derailleur hanger. So anyway, I wasn’t super excited about the Urban Assault Berkeley event that I found out about yesterday, that is, until I actually followed the link.  (Do it! Follow the link!)

If you didn’t follow the link, I’ll give you the lowdown:

Basically, this event has nothing to do with doing stupid things on your bike. It has to do with being smart and speedy and getting from one checkpoint to another before the other teams. There’s two people per team, and as a team, you check in at pre-determined points (one of them is Clif Bar in Berkeley, for example). At these points, you have to do something wacky–the website mentions a slip-n-slide– and then you move on to the next checkpoint.

And if fun weren’t enough of a reason to partake in such a glorious event, how about schwag? According to the site (I told you to follow the link. It’s not to late! Here: link!) there’s going to be plenty of freebies from sponsors like New Belgium and Specialized. And some of the entry fee is a charity donation. You can’t really beat that. I think Orion and I may check this event out…I’ll keep you all posted!

Here’s the back story:

Five years ago, as a college freshman in Madison, the UW Cycling team convinced me that because so few women would be racing, even if I finished dead last, I could still get points for the team in the mountain bike race that they put on at Blue Mounds State Park every year. So I entered, even though I had never really mountain biked before. Sure, I’d ridden on plenty of dirt trails and lots of gravel roads, but never over rocks and logs, across streams, and up rocky hills. I did well in the race–5th out of 10. But I should clarify that I only placed that well because the 5 girls who placed behind me had taken a shortened route by accident, and instead of racing for 13 miles, only raced for about 8. I was still pretty excited, and for a while, if you Googled my name, you could find proof that I didn’t come in dead last (even though I probably would have if those other girls had stayed on the right trail).

Ever since then, I’ve wanted to be a hard core mountain biker. But quite frankly, I’m a bit of a pansy. I mean, I’m just plain ole scared of  busting myself up. And so I’ve tried to go riding with the Trusty Boyfriend recreationally, but I always chickened out. I could only get over the fear with the adrenaline that came with a race situation. So when the Trusty Boyfriend’s sister suggested a race up in Sonoma, I knew I had to do it, or risk being that girl who never rode a mountain bike again. So we all entered. The Trusty Boyfriend (whose name is actually Orion. I’m sick of typing Trusty Boyfriend, and he doesn’t seem to care about anonymity), his sister, one of my college friends, and I all took of early in the morning to drive to the North Bay. What we found when we got there was scary–MUD!

I was totally prepared to ride a dry course. I thought I might even do well. After all, I’m strong. My legs are solid. It’s just the technical skills that I’m lacking. But the course was disgustingly muddy. Most of us had the totally wrong tires. Most of us slipped and fell over in all the corners. And definitely my friend and I came in dead last. But I learned a lot.

I learned that Orion is right–if it’s a downhill, don’t be scared, just bomb it as fast as you can. I learned that mud is dangerous, slippery, and hard to get out of cuts and scrapes. I learned that my legs are strong–strong enough to keep up with the other women on steep hills if there’s no mud. I also learned that no one’s legs, not even the men’s pro category winner’s legs, are strong enough to pull a bike up a hill that has mud 6 inches deep. But most of all, I learned that mud and rocks and stream crossings are FUN. I remember vaguely the fun that I had in my first race, and now I know that I need to go ride with all the dedication and intensity that I do on race day–every day.

I’m super excited to have rediscovered my love of dirt and mountain biking. I’m proud of every bruise and cut and scrape, even though I didn’t win. And I’m also proud of Orion. He actually did really well in the race, taking second place in the sport category for under 35-year-olds. I’m really proud of him.

Anyway–I don’t have the pictures on my camera, but they will be forthcoming

Go out and find some dirt to ride in! You’ll love it. Trust me.

It was the 103rd edition of the race, which runs (as you might imagine from the name) from Paris to Tours. Philippe Gilbert of Belgium won, for the second year in a row. The race was bursting with excitement–the final sprint to the finish, and a bit of a crash near the back of the peloton just before that sprint. But what I found particularly interesting was the fact that this long-running race is going to see some changes soon.

The race will go on next year, but the end is sure to be different. That’s because work is scheduled to begin on the construction of tramway rails that will run right up the middle of the street that is now the last leg of the race. The television commenters were stressing that the importance of this year’s race. Especially since it’s not just any old race route that is changing–the 2.6km long Avenue de Grammont was, until now, the longest straight road for the finale of a big cycle race. Philippe Gilbert is the only rider to have won the race twice in a row with the finish on Avenue de Grammont.

At any rate, I just heard about it, and I’m glad it’s getting a little bit of press. Apparently UCI is trying to get Eastern Europe more excited about bike racing. One of the biggest names at the Tour of Poland is Ivan Basso, who VeloNews says is warming up for the Vuelta , which happens later this month.

Wikipedia has some info on the history of the race, but it’s pretty clearly written by a non-native English speaker, so I didn’t get much out of it. And Versus, the cable television channel that brings America coverage of the TDF only has one article in its archives about the Tour of Poland, and it dates from 2008.

If anyone finds decent coverage of the race, please leave a comment letting me know, I’d love to get my Polish pride on with a viewing party or 5.

I’m referring, of course, to the intense riding ability of just about everyone on Team Astana. A lot of people assumed that Lance Armstrong would be the team leader for Astana. He’s got seven Tour wins under his belt, so why not put him in the position to win his eighth? But Alberto Contado and Levi Leipheimer are also both astoundingly talented riders, and Contador has one Tour win to his name (albeit a win that resulted from Floyd Landis losing his yellow jersey in a doping scandal). It was my thought that the team coach, Johan Bruyneel, was aiming for a first, second, and third place–hoping Astana would dominate the podium in Paris.

But whatever dreams Bruyneel had for a podium sweep were lost when Leipheimer withdrew from the race due to injury. The drama between Contador and Armstrong grew even more intense, as Contador repeatedly took the lead by attacking in a number of stages. The result of course, was that Contador took the yellow jersey, and Armstrong ended up in third place, with a very talented Andy Schleck in between them in second.

But the drama didn’t end with the champagne in Paris. Contador has said some nasty things about Armstrong to the press, and both have been actively tweeting to their loyal Twitter followers about not having respect for each other. And just last week, Armstrong and electronics retailer Radio Shack announced that they would be forming a new team for the upcoming season. Lance will be competing in pro cycling races, marathons, and triathalons for the new Team Radio Shack. The team is also partnering with Armstrong’s cancer foundation, LIVESTRONG.

All in all, the drama was almost as interesting to watch as the race itself. But now that it’s over, what’s a cycling fan to do?

I’ve been consoling myself that with the fact that there’s still the Tour of Missouri coming up in early September. The race’s website has some great information up about all the stages, and I’m generally pretty excited to see what happens. There’s no mountains in Missouri, but it should still make for an interesting race. Will it have as much drama as this year’s TDF? I’m not sure, but I do know that there is some other drama surrounding the race itself.

The Tour of Missouri is actually in some financial trouble. Pro cyclists have been tweeting to their followers to help save the race by bringing it to the attention of possible corporate donors. The race brings a lot of tourist money into Missouri, but the state still says that in these hard economic times, it might not be worth the cost of the race. This year they’re looking for volunteers to help out at the race, too, so if you’re in Missouri, you can sign up on the race’s site to volunteer.