Fredcast audio report on the Davis Double Century

David, of The Fredcast, my favorite cycling podcast, used my audio report (direct link) of the 2009 Davis Double Century in his latest podcast. It's like being almost famous. You can subscribe, or listen to it on the web page for episode #126. I'm at about minute 41.

You really should listen to the Fredcast if you like cycling, but if podcasts are just too confusing, here's a direct link to just my audio report. It's an m4a file, so it should play just fine.

It was interesting trying to ride and talk at the same time. I have no experience as an audio reporter, so it was fun pretending to be one. I was amazed how many people said "Huh?" when I told them I was recording for a podcast. It was also interesting trying to sort out all the audio when I got home. It's not like sorting images, which can go pretty fast. Because audio exists in real time I had to listen to it a lot. I gave me even more respect for This American Life, a great radio show and podcast.

Tour of California prologue 2009

Tyler Hamilton of Rock Racing and a fanboy on the right.

The Tour of California prologue was cold, windy and totally amazing. Tricia and I almost took our bikes, but it looked like rain so we ended up being pedestrians. You can read all about the tour on a zillion blogs and news sites. I've been going to Versus TV, CyclingNews.com and the Fredcast.com.

But here's what it was like to be there: I've never seen so many bicycles and riders. The teams park trailers on side streets near the start. You can walk up and watch them warm up on bike stands that hold their bikes. You can oogle their equipment. I got to see that Rock Racing rides Kestrel bikes like mine, only they do it faster. Some teams hand out posters and other swag. It's amazing to be so close.

There's a large "Lifestyle Fair" near the start,which is really a lot of mostly bike-oriented booths that ether have cool stuff on display, or are selling cycling stuff. We couldn't resist the great deals at the Hincapie booth, and ended up with a jacket and some shorts.

As much fun as it is to watch cycling gods zoom past, it's impossible to know exactly what's going on. I took my daughter's iPod touch hoping to get a wi-fi signal so I could keep up, but it didn't work. So near the end we found a brew pub and watched on TV, where we could see the whole course and know what the times were.

After the race we went to a restaurant for a meetup with cycling bloggers. We got to meet many of the people whose blogs I follow. David of the Fredcast, Fritz of Cyclelicious, and Jonathan Tessler from Bicycle.net. It was very cool to find out the people I read and listen to have actual faces and drink beer.

I'm a star!

I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk when the phone directory comes and he finds his name in it then runs about yelling "I am somebody!"
Well, I am now somebody too! My favorite podcast is the Fredcast, a bicycling podcast. I listen to every episode. David, the Fredcast creator has been soliciting ride reports, so after the Seattle to Portland ride I recorded one in our hotel room. I mailed it in and darned if he didn't end up using the whole thing. I'm pretty excited about it. It's kind of like getting to sing backup on your favorite band's album. I'm in Fredcast #77 pretty near the end. And I am soooooo cool now.
A note on the Fredcast: I use iTunes and then download it to my iPod and listen on my commute. But you can listen through the web page, or any number of ways. You don't need a Mac, or an iPod. I highly recommend the Fredcast