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  • The Dominator racing Mountain Bikes?

    Nicklas Lidstrom with the Stanley Cup during the 2008 Red Wings Parade
    Nicklas Lidstrom with the Stanley Cup during the 2008 Red Wings Parade

    The Detroit Free Press is reporting that retired Red Wing Goalie Dominik Hasek might do some mountain bike racing.

    Hasek, 43, lives in the Czech Republic but still figures to spend some time here, where his son, Michael, is a freshman at Michigan State. The two will meet in East Lansing this week, and Hasek also plans to be with the Wings when they visit the White House.

    Hasek said he is happy with his decision to retire.

    For now, he plans to run his business and play beach volleyball with friends. He also hopes to participate in mountain bike races.

    It’s unclear whether he’ll be racing in Michigan or the Czech Republic.

  • Detroit Derby Girls off to Eastern Regionals

    I waved goodbye to Diesel Doll and Del Bomber as they pulled out of the driveway and headed out of town.  They’re on their way to Madison, Wisconsin for the East Regional Championships called Derby in Dairyland.  The top 12 roller derby teams from the east conference will compete for the championship and a chance to play at the nationals.

    Last year Detroit was the cinderella story and finished fourth to earn a spot at nationals.  They’re hoping to do the same this year.

    The home season begins November 1st when the Detroit Pistoffs take on the Devil’s Night Dames.  Diesel’s next game is December 13th when the Pistolwhippers take on the D-Funk Allstars.  All home games are at the Detroit Masonic Temple.  The full derby schedule is on-line.  Tickets are available at TIcketmaster, the Fox Theatre box office, Danny’s Irish Pub (Ferndale) and Detroit Threads (Hamtramck.)

    But to whet your appetite until then, make sure you check out this video of New York taking on Texas.  Beyonslay is one amazing derby player.  She executes a perfect booty block 16 seconds into the video but then completely takes out of Rick Rocket — a hit that is now a part of derby legend.

  • Rodriguez: Live in Detroit

    Rodrigues plays upstairs at the Park Bar in Detroit
    Rodriguez plays upstairs at the Park Bar

    If you haven’t read the article, watched the video, or heard the story on NPR about Rodriguez, you should.  It’s pretty mind blowing that a Detroit musician can record an album, think they struck out, hang out in relative anonymity within the Cass Corridor, and learn decades later that they are a huge hit in places like South Africa and Australia.

    With all this recent media attention, the Park Bar booked Rodriguez for a one-night show upstairs.

    Simply put, it was amazing.

    Rodriguez sounded great but seemed perhaps a bit hesitant at first.  But he warmed up as the hometown crowd continued to applaud his every song.  He started filling the gaps between songs with smiles and assorted quips.

    While I did take photos, I was certainly limited by my camera and perhaps more so, my skill level.  Yes, they’re grainy and often blurred but the alternative was worse as my digital camera flash washed all the colors away.

    So if you’re not a Rodriguez fan yet, you should pick up a copy of his Cold Fact album.  There’s a pretty good chance you’ll become a fan just as I have.

  • Just Another Great Ride in Detroit

    I ran into Will and Shelley Botens while biking last weekend.  We started talking about riding and I agreed to take Will on a tour of Detroit that weekend.

    We started from Berkley and worked our way over to Oakman Boulevard.  The Boulevard took us to our first stop, the incredible Shatila bakery in Dearborn.  Biking to bakeries is always a great idea in my mind.

    Next we went past the Ford Rouge Plant in search of a route onto Fordson Island, which we never found.

    We headed east, making our way through Mexicantown and Corktown and finally Downtown.  Turning south, we rode the Riverwalk and the Dequindre Cut.

    Will had never been to the Heidelberg Project or Eastern Market, so of course we had to stop by and check them out.

    Heading north on Russell, we dipped into Hamtramck for a quick refueling at the Cafe 1923 before visiting Hamtramck Disneyland.

    At this point it was apparent that I had turned this Detroit tour into a very long ride.  Never expect a short tour when I’m wearing my IMBA Long Live Long Ride jersey.

    Last but not least, we had to stop at Theatre Bizarre before making our way up Woodward and back to Berkley.  At the end, we’d ridden 61 miles and had a great time.

  • Riding the Copper Triangle Route

    Jeff and Peter climb towards Vail Pass
    Peter and Jeff climb towards Vail Pass

    I’m getting caught up on posting photos from this summer.  Here’s a series of photos from a ride a few of us did in Colorado.

    Jeff, Peter, and I started in Frisco.  We headed out on the bike path towards Copper Mountain then up Vail Pass to the peak at the I-70 rest stop.  This really is a gentle mountain pass, at least in this direction.  It didn’t look like much fun for those riding from Vail.

    At the peak, Jeff turned back while Peter and I coasted into Vail and then Minturn.

    There were a couple tough road climbs between Minturn and Leadville, one of which was the Tennesee Pass.  It rain on us briefly, but we soldiered on to Leadville.

    We briefly loaded up on water before heading back to Copper.  Going up and over Fremont Pass was a major pain.  The wind and occasional rain didn’t make it anymore pleasant.  But, once at the top it was basically a long coast into Copper and Frisco.

    In the end we’d ridden 95 miles and climbed three Colorado mountain passes.  Not bad.