Enve 45 Carbon Clincher Wheelset

Since taking delivery of the SL4 late last year I'd been running my old Easton EC90 SL 38mm carbon clincher wheelset. While a very good wheelset, the Eastons were getting a little tired so I thought it was about time for a new set of wheels.

I wanted to take a step up from 38mm to 45mm and my first choice was a set of Zipp 303 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers. After taking a look at the Zipps I wasn't convinced and had heard some mixed reviews about the ongoing maintenance required on the Zipp hubs.

Alpine Classic Training Begins Today

The long road to the 2013 Alpine Classic began today with some hill work on the roads of Taka's '4 Houses of Pain' secret training ground. ~VL

Tom Boonen Wins 2012 Paris-Roubaix

Seems like it was only this time last week (literally) I was writing a post about Tom Boonen winning a major one day classic in the Tour of Flanders.

A mere 7 days later and Boonen has further stamped his name into cycling history by winning the 2012 Paris Roubaix to complete the Flanders-Roubaix double.

In what seemed like a suicide move, Boonen attacked off the front with 58 kilometres remaining. Despite a chasing group including the much fancied Juan Antonio Fletcha and Alessandro Ballan, Boonen stayed away to take a record equaling fourth Paris-Roubaix victory, an honour he shares with the great Roger De  Vlaeminck.

What an exciting race it was to watch. I'm so happy to see Tom back aboard a Specialized and at the top of his game.

~VL

Photo Credit: Sirotti

Paris Velib Bike Share by Translogic

Cool little video from Tanslogic on Velib, the Paris bike share program. Also contains a little bit on auto lib, the paris EV car sharing program.

~VL

Tom Boonen Wins the 2012 Tour of Flanders

You would have to have been hiding under a huge pile of Belgian waffles to miss the news that cycling rockstar and 2012 winning machine Tom Boonen has taken victory at this year's Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen).

Back to his winning best this year, the great man has shown what a class act he is when it comes to the one day spring classics. This win takes his Tour of Flanders tally to three (2005, 2006, 2012), which goes together nicely with three victories at Gent-Wevelgem (2004, 2011, 2012) and three at Paris-Roubaix (2005, 2008, 2009).