Daddy Cool Poster

RIP Boney M. Daddy Cool

Nicknames are given for alot of reasons and I am not sure why I came up with Daddy Cool Simeone for Todd Hero, but it seemed to fit this colossus of the DOUBLE LOOP. For a year he just sat in on group rides and sometimes whined about the aches of being a Hero. Not that there was any doubt of his toughness and on his first Double Loop he crushed it. Daddy Cool Simeone seemed to be just the right name for a guy that is Cool and lets you know about it at the right time. The name sprang from Boney M, aka Bobby Farrell, and was applied just because it sounded right, nothing else. I first heard of Boney M because Jen Hero works for some Russian Fashion Designers and it was there and in western Europe where Boney M. made their money. Bobby Farrell died today. He left Aruba at 15 to become a sailor. He was the front man known more for style than actually singing. No matter. Thanks for the music, the nickname, and Rest in Peace.

L.D.L Award Nomination: Hincapie Merino Wool Socks

I would like nominate my grey Hincapie Merino Wools Socks for this year's Ludo Dierckxsens Longevity Award. I realize my socks may not draw from the same kindred emotions as Ben Hero's Pedal Down video, but these socks really are something special. Nearly two years of dedicated service and still keeping my feet warm, comfy and merino wool fungal free. Chapeau Hincapie Socks! Just ordered two new pair.

2010 Mechanic of the Year: Saj at Get a Grip Cycles

I do not have a picture of the mechanic of year but I do have a picture of all of our dirty bikes parked out front of a cafe in Glen Ellyn and there is one guy we call when have a problem and it is Saj at Get a Grip Cycles. Patience, Skill, and Care are three words I would use to describe him. I took my campy record hubs to get looked at this fall. Saj spun them around and recommended I let them ride with their original grease for another season. He is not going to make up work, just the work that needs to get done. Here's to Saj.

10SH New Year's Resolution

Dear Tenspeed Heroes,

Please let us make 2011 a year to remember by collectively resolving to design, produce and sell (at cost) our very own Tenspeed Hero kits. We are all bulletproof tigers and God dammit we should all look like bulletproof tigers on the bike. Gentlemen, now is the time... let's make some magic.



Until then, I guess I will continue buying kit from other cycling blogs that I enjoy.

like this one

breaking news

dudes, we like so totally just got new wheels.

10SH Storyteller of the Year

Patrick telling us a story.

I hereby nominate Patrick Hero as 10SH Storyteller of the Year. Whether it's describing an epic flat, an epic muffin, or in the case of this picture, the epic cleanliness of Sammy's bathroom, Patrick understands the importance of dramatic arc and resolution. We've all counted ourselves lucky to bear auditory witness to Patrick's racing and training tales. Below is an excerpt from Patrick's description of a mellow, casual ride on the Loop:

I pulled alongside Luke in the final 5 miles of the Double Loop and asked him, "How are your legs? I'm feeling so tired and grumpy. I can't wait to get back to Jen's parents' and lay in the grass and play with Sister." Luke smirked with the false knowledge that he had the upper hand. I, however, was fresh as if I hadn't pedaled a mile. I turned the pedals over in jerky motions to further construct the ruse I had lain upon Luke.

As we neared our destination in the last 500 meters, I could see Luke's ego was taking over and he was panting irregularly, his face flush with the anaerobic effort he'd expended to try to drop me from his wheel. 400 meters he pulled aside and motioned with his hand that I take a pull. I declined, chuckled, and took the last sip of Heed in my bottle. 300 meters, Luke looked at me and said angrily, "C'mon, help out! Quit being lazy" I shook my head and continued on in Luke's draft. 200 meters, I decided to prepare for my campaign of shock and awe: I threw my bottles into someone's yard.

100 meters left, we made the turn onto Euclid, I launched into my sprint, and went around Luke. My muscle fibers jolted with each push upon the pedals, my bike shook with the force I laid upon it. Each turn of the crank, I could sense that my opponent, my nemesis, my arch-enemy...yet friend...was further and further behind. As I turned into the driveway as a victor, panting with exertion, I could sense the glare of my defeated opponent upon me. I took no offense to his anger, for in competition, friends will only stab you in the back and 'tis better to be the first one to draw blood.

You should hear him talk about buying Dura Ace parts on eBay.

Keith Hero Likes Look

I would bid on that.

youtube monday continues with performance

Maru Hero

I Hereby Nominate This Cat as a Hero

happy holidays

Lando Vs Ludo

Ludo Dierckxsens turned pro when he was 30 giving up a steady job at the DAF truck factory to try his luck as a cyclist. Lando gave up his career as a smuggler and gambler to become Baron administrator of the gas mining colony of Cloud City. Ludo gained fame for piloting his bike into breaks at Paris-Roubaix finishing a career best sixth in 2001 at the age of 37. Lando is known for piloting the Millenium Falcon into the second death star's core to destroy its reactor. But all of this fails to answer the most important question. How did these two heros end up with such similar helmets?

Tenspeed Hero Awards

Time to Hand the Tenspeed Hero Awards of the Year. Feel Free to Invent any Categories to go along with any photo of your choosing. A Teenspeedie is a coveted thing to receive and to give.

Hero Impact

Chicago Cycling Clothing

 

I want to propose some alternate Chicago training gear for the 15-20 Mile Cold Training Ride:

(Base Layer-Patagonia Sweater with Hood-Outer Shell)
(Wool Hunting Socks-Tretorn Rubber Boots) To Be Worn With Toe-Clips
(Rapha Winter Cap-Helmet)
(Patagonia Rubicon Ski Pants)

Don't Forget the 28mm Tires. Gloves. Push a Big Gear and Go Slow.

TDF-COBBLES

Afterglow Cyclocross Race

CX Patrick, CX Patrick!

Yesterday at the Humboldt Park Afterglow cyclocross race, Patrick Hero indicated that he was thinking of buying a 'cross bike to give the discipline a go. To help persuade him, I had banners hung with Patrick's name at today's World Cup CX race in Kalmthout. Here, Patrick's name frames the moment right before Sven Nys was beaten in a sprint by someone whose name I now can't remember.

The Ghost Rider

I was watching Polanski's ' The Ghost Writer' last night and was struck by the wall of immaculate identical 585's on the wall of Adam Lang's (Pierce Brosnan) contepo-modern seaside home. At this point I am quite envious of the Ghost's trip-- subtract the constant vague threat of death-- it looks quite ideal: Blustery coastline walks, beautiful clean house, meals made for you, fine whiskey, nights spent with Olivia Williams, and a row of 585's in garage. Ewan unfortunately chose what I believe to be a 986 e-post MTB bike to ride out on-- I believe this choice was his fatal flaw.

Cross Racing

Even the spectators are tough

Hero Gift Guide

The Kobold Sir Ernest Shackelton watch. $5,350.

Harden the f#@$ up

Explorers Club

I prefer to think of the Explorers Club as colleagues rather than rivals. Incidentally, December 1 was the deadline for 2011 Explorers Club grants.

Passion, PechaKucha, and Pope Paul VI

One hallmark that makes a Hero stand out among cyclists is his passion for life off the bike and his propensity to share that passion with other riders. Ever since the first time I rode with Mike Hero, for example, I noticed we’d ride side-by-side rubbing handlebars for miles and talking about art, architecture, information aesthetics, publishing, web design, food, wine, spirits--seemingly everything but bikes.

And the inverse is also true: a Hero’s passion for cycling is so strong that it spills out into the rest of his life, the Hero becoming a full-time evangelist for the sport. This blog has no shortage of anecdotes that illustrate that point, and I submit today this video of Mike Hero’s December 7 Pecha Kucha Night Chicago presentation, where he brings to a design-savvy audience his passion for his Eddy Merckx Team SC Domo Farm Frites and the frame’s namesake, the Greatest Cyclist Who Ever Lived (and a cameo by Pope Paul VI). Watch as Mike shares his story.

Thor's Ride

Leto...Hero?

Jared Leto...Ten Speed Hero?

No, not so much. The guy in Baseball Furies costume, though, a definitive yes.

Coming To A Double Loop Near You: Slipstream Paris Roubaix Bike

 

This bike landed at Hero Headquarters last week. Its last race was at Paris Roubaix and its next will be the 2011 Double Loop (125 Miles). I will take more photos when time permits. But this custom rig  for Garmin Slipstream has a 45mm Rake, Shimano Long Reach Calipers, an extra cm on the fork and the rear stays and some dapper cane creek brake cross levers. It will join Bernie Eisel's Giant for the 2011 Tenspeed Hero/Le Ramrod Racing Season.

The other Thor

I suggest Thor Heyerdahl be the first posthumously honored Tenspeed Hero. He may have never raced a bike (or ridden a bike?) but he embodied the spirit of Tenspeed Herodom and has inspired the return of my beard. True, Thor's beard was the product of weeks of crossing a vast and dangerous sea on a raft whereas my beard was the product of simply not shaving, but the inspiration is still there. Plus, just look at that face. Who wouldn't happily let him in the door at Hero Headquarters? And who wouldn't follow him in whatever crazy adventure he came up with?

google image fun

search terms "kid drop bars training wheels"

lunch break

Mario

“I lived a very different cycling,” Cipollini told L’Equipe. “At the beginning of a sprint, I felt like a gladiator, ready to do anything to keep my place. And when I lost, I wasn’t capable of going to congratulate whoever had beaten me, like Andy Schleck did at the Tour. Me, I’d hate him because he’d taken the bread from my mouth.”   Read More.

Guts

Photo by Mark Adocious.

Sometimes Heroes need to go with their gut and ride their CX bike. Lots of unheroic choices made last Sunday, chief among them bike selection.

Marvel at the spittle hanging from my lips as I hustle my Jamis Dragon up the icy slope. Did you notice my tendons and muscles flexing? I've been doing lots of core workouts. Can you see the anger in my eyes as I chase down 65th place? No, you can't, because I'm wearing Oakleys.

Even Heroes Fall

Sunday Dec 5th IL state cyclocross championships ..20F

Zach

Isaiah


Kevin



©Mack Adocious ©Luke Seemann

Cyclocross World Cup Igorre 2010 - Final 2 laps

In the drops

I can't remember if I ever posted this picture of Luke when he was three. Please don't make any jokes about how he could still use the training wheels. But, this is not really Luke. It is a famous bike racer. Do you know who it is?

Showering After a Tough Winter Ride

A warm shower after fifty miles in the snow is so essential. I use a water activated gel cleanser.....then a honey almond body scrub.......and on the tires, an exfoliating gel scrub.

My New Cross Bike: One Hundred Purrcent Eyee-Talyin

Actually, borrowing from French theorist Roland Barthes' essay The Rhetoric of the Image we can proceed with a spectral analysis of this bicycle and the messages it may contain while testing the veracity of my claim that this bicycle is indeed what I say it is (eyee talyin).


The first clue is most obviously communicated through what Barthes calls the "linguistic message" with the brand of the bicycle functioning as a sign carrying a specific connotation. Broken down, the sign Scattante gives not simply the name of the bicycle but also, by its assonance (and flaccid translation), an additional signified, that of 'Italianicity.'

A second sign is more or less equally evident; its signifier is the bringing together of the red, white and green stripes on the the seat and down tube; their signified is Italy, or again Italianicity. This sign stands in a relation of redundancy with the connoted sign of the linguistic message (the Italian assonance of the name Scattante) and the knowledge it draws upon is already more particular; it is a specifically 'American' knowledge (an Italian would barely perceive the connotation of the name, no more probably than he would the Italianicity of red white and green stripes on a racing bicycle), based on a familiarity with certain tourist stereotypes.


In contrast, with the exception of the Thorne cyclocross ring and chaingaurd (which incidentally connotes "toughness" by invoking actual thorns, the thorny bush, or Christ's crown of thorns representing the sin and suffering carried by the King of Christianity), Speedplay pedals (obvious..the combination of speed and play equates to fast and fun) and Tektro brakes (something technical?), the components are a fine yet cost-effective mix of "authentic" Campagnolo and other parts of Italian origin (not made by Performance Bicycle in China).

10SH Jam of the Day