Professional cycling has certainly seen better days. Last week, the International Cycling Union formally stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles. This came after Armstrong refused to contest an evidence-filled case prepared by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and after Armstrong’s former teammates started confessing to doping one by one. (On that note, Tyler Hamilton, once a domestique for Lance, gave a rather revealing radio interview this week, along with Daniel Coyle. Together they co-wrote a new book, The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs.) Anyway, this is all a long way of saying that cycling fans could use something to smile about. And maybe this fits the bill: Above, we have Martyn Ashton, a well-known mountain biker, taking a $13,000 Pinarello Dogma 2 out for a very casual radical spin. Enjoy.
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This type of riding evolved from trials riding, a niche of cycling that involves riding on obstacles. The person to popularize the current movement of trials is Danny Macaskill. He certainly wasn’t the first to do this type of riding and he may not even be the best, but he has a very distinctive style blending trials and freestyle BMX. The 2009 video linked below was his big breakout moment, he has released a couple of others since which are also impressive to watch. Even as an avid cyclist of both the road and mtb disciplines, I am in complete awe of these athlete’s abilities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o