The Wobblin' Sprocket

If you follow bike racing, you will be hearing this name a lot more in the future.  This kid (20 years old) has whatever it is that makes riders great.

In today’s stage of Paris-Nice, I watched him jump off the front of a group of about 25 riders…which was all that was left of the peloton after Liquigas set a ferocious pace…about 2k from the finish line.  That is hard to do.

The announcers were all wondering what the Liquigas guys were doing (so was I).  We all know now.  They were setting it up for their teammate, this awesome kid from Slovakia.

AFP: Contador retains lead of Paris-Nice as Sagan bags stage.

We’ve dabbled in jerseys, fanny packs, bumper stickers embroidered fleeces, hats and all sorts of things.  Why?  It’s fun and it promotes the business.

A lot of people ask where we get our stuff.

Well the embroidered stuff comes from Queensboro.  The greatest thing is their low 4 item minimum and their reasonable prices.

You can use their stuff for your business, a family reunion, or almost anything.  They will help you with a logo.

Anyway, they just sent me this.  A $25 gift certificate for anyone who wants to give them a try.

Refer A Friend and Receive $25!.

The Lao people are friendly, the destination is spectacular and uncrowded and, perhaps more than anything else, in the countryside, it’s a throwback to a different time when people primarily lived off the land…doing things they always have.  Laos has a way of leaving an impression.

For me, there is nothing that makes doing these tours more worthwhile than to read participant accounts of their journey.

In the grand scheme of things, the tours are not particularly long: 2 or 3 weeks of biking, at the most.  But that’s  long enough to see and experience plenty that leaves an impression.

Anyway, I returned home from the last Tour d’ Indochine (Vietnam and Laos) to find a couple things written by participants:

1. A  letter from Fred Carson to the Lao Ambassador in Washington DC.
2. An account of last year’s Tour d’ Indochine, written by Joan Oppel, appearing in “The Pedal Patter”, the monthly newsletter of the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club.

Below is Fred’s letter.  I’ll put Joan’s lengthier write up in a separate post.

Best,

Bob