PRESS RELEASE: Parkin Speaks!!!


A Dog in a Hat is the remarkable story of American bike racer Joe Parkin. Parkin was an amateur racer in California in  1987 when he met Bob Roll, a pro with the powerhouse Team 7-Eleven. To become a real pro, "Lobotomy Bob" advised Joe to go to Belgium, host to cycling's  most grueling race scene. What follows is the amazing memoir of a blue-collar cycling career carved out of the rain-soaked trenches of Europe. 

Parkin's memoir reads like a novel. In plainspoken, fast-paced prose, Parkin describes the true life of the professional bike racer, putting the reader into the  whirlwind of this hardest of athletic educations. A Dog in a Hat begins with Parkin's terrifying first visit to his team doctor, where he is strapped to a table and  monitored by humming electrodes as men in white lab coats coldly divine his future as a pro.

A Dog in a Hat celebrates the glory of bike racing, but Parkin also lays out the hard reality of the life-the drugs, the payoffs, the betrayals by teammates, the  battles with team owners for money and contracts, the endless promises, and the exhaustion of racing day after day.

Despite the pain, despite the suffering, A Dog in a Hat is a beautiful book. It is one American's story of his love affair with professional cycling, set in the  hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. It is a story untold until now, and one that Parkin's readers will never forget.

Published by VeloPress, the book is now available in bookstores, bike shops, and online.

THE BILLY & BASSO SHOW

When word leaked that Ivan Basso showed up at Cannondale's recent dealer meeting in Park City, Utah we chased down Cannondale's VP of Marketing, Billy Rudell (L) to get the inside report. Here's what Billy had to say about the former Giro winner who will soon be making his return to racing following a positive test.

"During our meeting we put two very good looking men, an Elite lever racer (Mr. Basso) and a Performance Rider (yours truly) on stage and asked them a few questions in order to describe to the audience the difference of a SuperSix rider vs.. a Synapse ride. What I found out was the similarities between Mr. Basso and myself were astonishing...
 
We both wear white cycling shoes, our main riding loop is 30 miles, and our favorite post ride meal is pizza/beers. The difference are his white shoes put out 4X the wattage of mine, and he does 3 laps around his 30 mile loop (6 days a week) to my one lap (two times a week). This is where I edge him out...he eats 2 slices of vegetarian pizza to my 6 slices of sausage/mushroom.
 
So what was Ivan doing in Park City? After recently signing Ivan to race for Liquigas Ivan was excited to get on the SuperSix and do some high altitude training leading into his first race with the team...the Japan Cup in Oct 2008. Parting comment from Ivan when it was time to leave Park City for the airport...."what no more Doritos and Mt Dew for breakfast with Billy?"

On The Street


It's no secret to anyone reading this that a bicycle is the hands down champ in getting around town and having  a better sense of the nooks and crannies that make up the local 'hood.  Bicycles let you see, smell and feel more than driving around in a car will ever allow. In fact just the other day as I was on the way for some slow laps around the Rose Bowl I spied upon this svelte black Jaguar X-Series sedan. It's a car that I have frequently driven by without the slightest interest. However, on this occassion -  BECAUSE I was on a bicycle - I was afforded an interesting oberservation...there was a Bad Brains sticker on the back window. You know, the Bad Brains, the defacto punk rock champions of yesteryear who came out of Washington, D.C. While that probably means little to most of you, it was a great moment for me that provided a sweet & brief journey down memory lane when I was a flagrant punk rocker and saw the Bad Brains for the first time in 1981 in Santa Barbara. Lead singer "H.R" and his fellow Brains were an onslaught of energy & aggression and as tired a cliche as it is, they changed my life that night.

Seeing the sticker on the luxury car also brought to mind a line in Don Henley's catchy song "The Boys of Summer". That was the line where he sang "I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac..."  I can't stand the Grateful Dead and their brand of hippie lethargy. The Bad Brains were one of the greatest rock bands ever. Laconic where the Dead were bloated. Agitated on stage where the Dead were asleep. Simply put, the Bad Brains epitomized being alive while the Dead were, well, just that. And Don was wrong when in the same song he went on and said "you can't go back". Although just where "back" is is up to question, I say you can always go back and all it takes is a bike ride to get you there.

PRESS RELEASE: Water With A Kick

Vital Action Performance Water is all-natural performance water equipped with multifunctional supplements designed for every stage of competition. VAPW is the first in the niche market of performance waters to utilize Fruit Up Premium, the innovative 100% all natural sweetening system made from a blend of clear fruit such as apples and grapes. Fruit Up’s extremely low glycemic index is a more sustainable fuel, allowing athletes to perform longer at a higher level.

    * Energy: Panax Ginseng is a natural herb that promotes circulation and boosts mental awareness and energy.
    * Stamina: Arginine is an amino acid that enhances blood flow and prepares the body for exercise.
    * Immunity: Echinacea is traditionally used to prevent infections and stimulates the immune system.
    * Recovery: N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) to boost Glutathione levels in the body that neutralize free radicals and speedy recovery In addition, the new action sports beverage also includes 100% of the recommended intake of B3, B5, B6, and B12—the “feel good” vitamins. For more information, please Click Here.

PEARL TOGS


So there I was riding along at the Look media day and someone commented on my sweet Pearl Izumi shoes that were from a custom batch made up for the disbanded T-Mobile team years ago. Yeah, they're outdated, but in their defense, beautifully simple with just three Velcro straps, a nice fit and I mean c'mon, how can you go wrong with pink flames!? Coincidentally, the guy who asked about the shoes happened to be wearing a pair of the new Pearl "Fuel" shoes that made quite a splash at Interbike last year due to their light weight of just 190 grams for the pair.  Although we were supposed to get some months ago, we ain't seen hide nor hair of them since the show. We made the call to our Pearl pal Cache and he said that with their recent acquisition by Shimano, as well as endless duties with the come-uppance of the Slipstream team, that he's been hard at it, but that he'd get some to us asap. In the same conversationm Cache also had this Tour de France story to tell....

"The speedsuits were handmade for each athlete at our office in Boulder, CO. Because they are such a tight fit each rider actually has to have assistance in putting it on. Alan Lim helped us develop the suits and we spent a lot of time in the wind tunnel with him and the suit designers. We also use special fabric that we get from Pearl's headquarters in Japan. The suits were finished just a few days beforfe the Tour started. We didn't want to take any chances with French or Spanish customs so we opted to send them to Germany. We arrived the night before the press conference when they announced Garmin as a new title sponsor. The drive to Brest, France took 11 hours straight...I'm not really sure when that plan seemed like a good idea!"

THE "R" THING


While I was at Trek World earlier this month I did my best Mexican paparazzi imitation and shot this photo of Trek Prez John Burke (r) having a lakeside chat with Eugene Keifel. In addition to being the father of former 7-Eleven/Coors Light fast man Ron "Wookie" Keifel, Eugene is the founder of  Wheatridge Cycles located just outside of Denver. My initial sight of the pairing struck me in a few ways.  As this was the first Trek World to take place without Trek founder Dick Burke, the shot nonetheless had a "father & son" feel to it. As members of the "old guard" Dick & Eugene were close. In his days when he was working up the Trek ladder as a road rep in Colorado, it was John who opened Wheatridge as a Trek dealer back in 1984. I interviewed Eugene almost ten years ago and the thing that struck me from our two hour long conversation was his repeated mantra that more than anything else, to him, it was relationships that dictated the course of a successful business. In the memorial video shown at Trek World, maintaining good relationships with people was something that Dick Burke also cited as being vital to his success as well. Hhhmm, maybe the old guys are to something eh?
 
WIN ZAP'S SCHWAG CONTEST


Speaking of the Look media day, the random winner of this month's Win Zap's Schwag contest will win the fresh Look Pro Team kit (medium jersey and short) that they handed out for us to ride in with the new bikes. Since I figured that there must be someone out there that would covet a free Look cycling outfit, I stashed mine and rode in something that better resembled a pinata (hence the sour eye I got for not rolling along in the Look kit like everyone else!).  Send your answers to the questions below to Zap@roadbikeaction.com and I'll choose the random winner.

1. What is the weight of the Monobloc fork used on the 586 Origin? 
2. How many hours does it take to build a 496 frame?
3. How many gold medals did Look bikes win at the Beijing Olympics?

Last Month's Winner
Beau Marshall was the random winner chosen for sending in the correct answers to the previous quiz. I know, some of you are cursing Beau because he ends up with a sweet saddle/bar tape package from Fizik and you don't. Such is life. Just to rub it inm here's a word from the winner himself.
 
"Zap, Love your Column and I’m glad I found you here at Road Bike Action!  Cool news that I won!!! I am a disabled veteran who recently has begun to ride my bike in hopes of regaining my previous physical condition before I was injured in the Military. I currently am riding an old 90's model Fuji Tahoe SX. Love the bike and it has served me well over the years. I have ridden it all over the Pikes Peak area before a short move to West Virginia, where I frequented Canaan Valley quite a bit. It currently has slicks on it for commuting purposes and will be donated to a young kid in Mexico.
 

I work full time for the Bureau of Land Management in Phoenix Arizona, but I so enjoy my reaquired cycling hobby that I took a part-time job with Performance Bicycle near my home to support my riding habit. Here's a picture of me at work with Troy Alves who is an IFBB pro bodybuilder. Troy recently opened a nutrition store next to the bike shop. I am the guy in the shop apron. Haha!

I am in the process of building my very first road bike after years of being a mountain bike only guy. Going to go with Campagnolo Centaur Drive train on a Scattante aluminum frame with carbon seatstays. I’m hoping to get myself into some decent physical condition with this road bike. Look forward to many more issues with you! Thanks again for the great magazine and the contest!!!"

The Answers:

1. How many colors of bar tape does Fizik offer? 8. Black, Metal Blue, Red, Chalk White, Dark Grey, Racing Yellow, Process Bue, and Bright red Microtex.

2. What place did Bob Roll consider “The Promised Land”? Italy!!! Of course.

3. The crazy Fizik Arione K:1 saddle weighs how much and uses what kind of rails? It weighs 149 Grams and uses Mobius Braided carbon.

4. According to I-Tunes, song # 5 on the newest Kings of Leon album is one of the least popular – what’s the name of the album and song? Black thumbnail from Because Of The Times

Top photo by Vero Images.