Memorial ride for Frankie Bentley

My new friend Katherine, whom I met at the Tampa Bay Bike Co-op meeting last night, is organizing a memorial ride for her close friend Frankie who we all know was struck and killed by a car a few weeks ago.

Ride for Awareness!!

• Friday, December 5 at 3:30pm (leave around 4)
• Meet at the Marshall Center Loop at USF Tampa
• Group ride surrounding campus for bike awareness.

I know it's early in the day, but it's best held under daylight, for obvious reasons. Hope you can make it.

It's official: Lance will race the '09 Tour

AUSTIN, Texas -- (AP) Lance Armstrong will ride in the 2009 Tour de France, marking the first time he will compete in that race and the Giro d'Italia in the same year.

"I'm committed to riding for the best guy," Armstrong said Monday, acknowledging the taxing schedule could leave him riding in a supporting role in France. Armstrong's Astana team includes 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador and is loaded with other talented riders.

"We'll abide by the same code that I do: Cycling is team sport, while we'd all like to win," the seven-time Tour champion told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Tenerife in the Canary Islands where Astana is training.

The 37-year-old Armstrong stunned the cycling world in September, when he announced he was ending his three-year retirement. He's scheduled to return to elite racing Jan. 20 for the Tour Down Under in Australia.

He has dedicated his comeback to raising awareness for his global fight against cancer.

After voicing concerns in recent weeks about his personal safety in France, Armstrong dismissed that issue Monday: "It's not going to keep me from going and doing my job, and it's not going to keep me from spreading my message."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

No hope in sight for Friendship Bridge

Friendship Trail Park Ranger Tom Beams locks the fence in November on the western side of the bridge because it is falling apart and needs costly repairs. The trail between Tampa and St. Petersburg has been used by nearly 600,000 people a year.

Will Van Sant's piece in today's St. Petersburg Times looks at the options Pinellas and Hillborough officials have regarding the bridge, but there is currently no local money available for any action.

Officials believe it would even cost $10 million just to demolish the bridge, and any investment in repairing it would have to be carefully weighed against its future lifespan.

My bet: don't expect anything to happen any time soon. Eventually they will give up, tear it down and hopefully make some room on the new Gandy Bridge for cyclists and walkers.

Il Grande Fautso

[via Race Cyclocross]

Cyclocross returns to Florida

Saturday and Sunday were the first races on the Florida cyclocross calendar. Racers made their way north to Tallahassee and enjoyed two brutally difficult yet entertaining courses, beautiful weather and some great racing.

I don't have a ton of pics, but what I took is below. You'll see I spent a lot of time on my mountain bike after crashing hard in the Men's B race.

Got some photos or a link to a Web gallery? Send 'em in and share!

Epilogue | Earnest Foster

Earnest Foster served as president of the St. Petersburg Bicycle Club for several years and helped organize races, including the Spring Classic Ride in Manatee County and the Freedom Walk to raise funds for the St. Petersburg Deaf Service Center. He died Nov. 14, 2008. He is survived by his wife, Betty; seven children; 10 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren. Services were at 2 p.m. today at Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home in St. Petersburg. Click to read Stephanie Hayes' epilogue, "He loved the outdoors, so that's where Earnest Foster's legacy is"

Bringing history to LIFE

In the past week, Google has partnered with LIFE Magazine to bring millions of classic and historic LIFE photographs to Google Image Search. Most were never published and are available for the first time.

A quick search found plenty of beautiful cycling images. Check it out for yourself!

Photo above:
Multiple day bicycle race in progress at the Sportspalast or Sports Palace. Berlin. 1928. Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt.