Fast Eddy's Wielercafé

"If you have to shovel snow off your windtrainer before riding it... then you just might be a Flahute." Don't let the tattoos fool you... Matt passed the flahute test with flying colors. Poor Matt.  He just couldn't take it anymore. I'm not sure whether it was the Belgian beer last week, the incessant snowfall (still coming down) or pandemic-winter-in-a-bike-shop-cabin fever. It doesn't matter.  The result was a massive powertraining workout that even our own 'Mike the Russian' would approve of.  Yes cafesupporters, Matt's transformation from ' Dude ' to ' Jongen ' is underway.   (Come over to the dark side Matt...) Few more of these workouts and the smile should be gone, replaced by the requisite dour grimace Noel Fore would have approved of...

Well, sort of.   I just hope Briek Schotte doesn't roll over in his grave! On Wednesday night, in the middle of yet another snowstorm, a group of middle aged American flahutes proved their stripes by ignoring the TV media's 'sky-is-falling' exhortations to stay off the roads, and instead gathering at BikeWorks in Swansea Mass. to share a Duvel toast and launch a new Masters racing team:  Fast Eddy's Flandria Cafe - Bikeworks - Flandria . This is what flahutes look like when the beer runs out. We assembled a great group of 45+ masters riders who will focus on doing New England races and Gran Fondo rides.   I'm proud to be riding with all of them this year.   Who are they?  Oh don't worry, this blog will be roasting most of these guys as the season goes on.  (Wouldn't be a real wielercafe if we didn't now would it?) For now suffice to say it's a mix of guys whose cycling cred runs the gamut from Ex-Pro to  Nieuweling, but who all ...

The original base layer.    Where did it go? Without danger of exaggeration, I'd say these four ribbed, off-white, Italian wool t-shirts were the single best piece of cycling gear investment I ever made.   Each one cost me less than $10 back in ...wait for it... 1980.   That may have been wholesale, kinda forget now.   They've outlasted my memory. No matter how hard I try, I just can't kill them.   They get washed and washed and still look like they did when I bought them. They've been pummeled by washing machines, tortured in dryers - never been lucky enough to receive the manufacturer's recommended care.  No worries though... still as comfortable and functional as the day they were first worn under a wool jersey. They bear surpisingly few scars from the wars.   And they've seen plenty.  One has a red-brown stain when some red Clement rim cement spilled on it... but that's about it. Since then I've tried all forms of 'base lay...

Time to zone out from today's late-breaking, interminable, and depressing  'did-he-or-didn't-he' doping news, and enjoy a few photos specially selected to match the local weather here today, and serve as a reminder of why we all love this sport.   The pure spectacle of man against mountain, in adverse weather.  A setting that strips away all the nonsense and leaves us with the bare essence.   A man. A bike. Adversity.  Acceptance. And a quote that - to me anyway - is a pretty relevant response to today's headlines and associated spin.  Particularly to those of us who might be asking the obvious question,  "tell me why should I believe in this sport again?" "I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way.  I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way.    So where does the power come from, to see the race to it’s end?   From within ."      ...

So, today I'm driving home from work. First I'm almost taken out at 70 mph on I-95 by some dip-sh** 20-something girl texting on her cell phone while driving.  Flippin' idiot. Then, 10 minutes later, I turn slowly in the dark onto my snow-covered quiet street, and a local 16-year-old girl steps out in front of me without looking, her downcast eyes glued to a 4-inch mobile phone screen which is also plugged into her ears.  Good thing I'm one alert crusty old flahute with fully operational sprinter reflexes and not just your average dip-sh*** 20-something texting while driving!  Kid never had any idea how close she came to getting flattened. I shudder to think of it. I swear, the whole friggin' world has lost it's collective ability to function for 5 minutes without looking at a tiny screen or getting input from a digital device of some sort:  Fast Eddy's introductory metaphor and contextual platform for tonight's raging bulletin rant. You got it l...

Another cycling legend - Peter Post - passed away in Amsterdam a few days ago after a long illness.  Post was the tall, definitive Dutch hardman:  King of the winter six-day track in the sixties, winner of Paris Roubaix 1964 for this cafe's beloved Flandria team, and perhaps best known as director and manager of the Raleigh and Panasonic juggernauts of the 70's/80's/90's. I was surprised to see so many of the news site obituaries just posting the bare, basic facts about his career.  Little context about the man.   Surprising because there was so much more to the legend of Peter Post than a list of race results and accomplishments.   There's a great video overview of his career  here .   And a documentary on the reign of Post's ('Post train') teams  here . His Paris-Roubaix achieved the record average speed for a classic - the 'blue riband' - which lasted for years afterward.  An incredible 28mph average.  Video of the race here . ...

Hey cafesupporters... unveiling the Flandria Cafe team issue bike for 2011.   I'll take this over Schleck's Trek anyday.  The red guard is back. Built it up over the weekend.   Tested on trainer, fits glove-perfect.  Flandria Competition carbon frame, 51cm. Belgian design. Was psyched to find out that this racefietsen is just under 2 lbs. lighter than my old carbon Bianchi.  That with Campy record (alloy cranks) and clincher Campy Neutron wheels.  Schweeet. Kudo's to Adam Longworth and our friends at Flandria bikes for the perfect modern interpretation adaptation of a classic wielericon. Can't wait till the the snow's gone and can get it out on the roads.