My wheels.

I was asked to post a pic of my bike. Enjoy.

For the record: Yes, it's a hard-tail mountain bike, but I'm riding on Specialized Borough 1.5 tires and SPD Road clips. Saving up for something more enduro-road friendly. A Specialized Sequoia, probably, if they're on sale I'll try to deal with the sales guy and take a Specialized Roubaix home. Note: pray that they're on sale and that I'm good at dealing with the sales guy.

Not allowed to go? Just change your kit.

So, is anyone else as psyched for the Giro as I am? I need to make some cycling friends or get my current group into the peloton.

Regardless, the Gila starts today. Rules banning Team Astana from riding didn't slow down Lance. He, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, three Astana teammates have--with the UCI's approval--formed their own team and will compete. Levi could use the points and I'm sure he'll gun for a stage win. For Lance, this is about the Giro. He needs something to get geared up for the only race that I think he stands a chance of winning this season. I totally dig the team kit. Mellow Johnny's is Armstrong's Austin, Texas bike shop.

I stay fresh like I'm wrapped in plastic...

Got home from bar at 2am. Reassemble bike and put in seven miles in the rain. I have a problem... perhaps. It's hard to resist the siren song of empty roads, warm wind and a playlist full of Rise Against, Common and mewithoutYou. Now I'll fall asleep watching clips of Lance climb Alpe d'Huez.

...or maybe just old Nike commercials...

Lance Armstrong Nike Ad

Breaking away.

The Cutters win for the third time in a row at the Little 500.

One of the cooler amateur races on U.S. soil.

Read more: Cutters score three-peat at Little 500, Pi Beta Phi takes 1st women's win.

Opportunity knocks.

By the way: The LiveSTRONG Challenge is not the only charity ride I'll be participating in this summer. Katie Bateman's dad has a team riding for him in the MS150 which takes place in Holland, Michigan in mid-June. Assuming my schedule permits, I'm looking to add another century ride to my season on October 4th, with the Dempsey Challenge in Maine.

On May 16th I'll be joining my coworkers and anyone else who would like to join us as we participate in the Relay for Life, a cancer fundraiser. In August I'll participate in the AdvoKATE run in Rochester, Michigan.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in ways that will benefit incredibly important charities. Each of these five races present you with a chance to do something good for others while doing something great for yourself. None of the races are strictly competitive, each of the cycling challenges have courses as short as 5 miles and every single event features festivities beyond the athletic. I'll provide links for each. Think about racing, volunteering or donating.

LiveSTRONG Challenge Four days in four cities across America. (Cancer benefit)
National MS Society Plenty of races throughout the country. (MS Benefit)
The Dempsey Challenge Ride with Patrick Dempsey ("McDreamy" from Grey's Anatomy) October 4th, in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine. (Cancer Benefit)

If you're not up for a demanding race, try one of these:
Relay For Life Hundreds of opportunities to walk for the cure. Join my team on May 16th.(American Cancer Society)
AdvoKATE August 2009. Walk/run to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Evasive mileage

$320/2500
0 miles
119 days until The LiveSTRONG Challenge

Looks like I'll have a day off from the bike only because there were so many other things swallowing my time. Maybe I'll ride to work. If not, who's up for a 1am base-building ride? Anyone? Anyone?

Schleck!

Andy Schleck attacks on Côte de la Roche aux Faucons to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège, crossing the finish line on his own. For those who don't know what I'm talking about: he won a 265-kilometer bike race, one of the five biggest one-day races of the season. In my opinion there's only one one-day race that's harder (Paris-Roubaix).

I love the Schlecks. Andy's going to be clad in yellow at the Tour within five years. I'll put money on it.

Bike maintenance in friscalating dusklight.

$320/2500
12 miles
120 days until LiveSTRONG Challenge

What started as a twelve mile recovery ride ended up turning into a twelve mile "what the hell is wrong with my rear derailleur" ride through the shattered glass wonderland known as Baldwin Road. I'm amazed that I got home without a flat. That said, I'll need to take the bike in tomorrow to get the derailleur checked. I can fix it if it's lulling high or lulling low but it's doing both and I have absolutely no clue as to how that's possible.

If you're thinking of buying a bike or pulling an old one out of the garage for the first time in years you would do yourself a favor by going to Main Street Bicycles. They know their stuff, they can tune up anything, they'll teach you how to do it yourself (which I love), they're not snobs (like the snobs at Kinetic Systems) and they have a killer selection.

Fundraising goal.

Financial status update:

My goal is to raise $2,500 for the LiveSTRONG Foundation, in order to earn your contributions to that fund I will be participating in the LiveSTRONG Challenge 100 mile bike race in Philadelphia on August 23rd. If you're interested in joining me physically or financially, visit my donor page. So far, I have raised $320.

Kevin blogs?

Hi everyone! I've decided to blog. This summer I'll be participating in a handful of charity events that involve walking, running, or bicycling. The two that I'm most focused on will have me riding 150 and 100 miles on my bike and that's going to take a lot of preparation on my part. Here I'll document my progress in fundraising for the LiveSTRONG Challenge, what kind of mileage I'm putting on my bike, and thank you notes to those who have chosen to sponsor me. I'll also blog about events in the cycling community. I've never blogged before, so it may take a little while for me to find a way to make this interesting enough that anyone would want to read it, but I'm sure that's well within my capabilities. Thanks for reading, thanks for donating.