I don't know exactly what it is but I'm now hooked on the Tour of California 2009. Before even scanning the line up, the wonderful irony company selling EPO continuing to sponsor a professional cycling race, made me smile. But it's some line up for what Henk Vogels bizarrely calls 'the fourth biggest race in the world'.

Lance Armstrong somewhat famously started using Twitter recently which seems to qualify him to give speeches at Web 2.0 conferences. Say what you will about Armstrong (and people say a lot, not all of it nice) he does know how to work the media.

I am deeply saddened to read that Sheldon Brown, the doyen of web bike mechanics, has recently passed away. Sheldon's wonderful site is the antithesis of the surly condescending guy in the LBS. It answers every question you've never asked about crazy Italian bottom brackets, how to weld your own tandem and, of course, how to build the now de-rigeur fixie. He managed to do this with the delightful, easy wit of your favourite uncle.

I ride a singlespeed (lamely), own a crumpler bag and from time to time, I even roll up my trousers. Unfortunately I have a desk job, only do a few paltry miles a day and don't have the most chiseled thighs or even suffer from erectile disfunction. How, you may ask, can I live with myself? Easy I tell you, with god's help I get by. She's good like that, she'd be even better if she was real (and hot). I digress however and need to abandon theology and get back to my confessional. I currently ride an old steel roadie that I've converted to single speed.

There is something special about riding a bicycle around the middle of a city. You weave through cars, people and anything else, crossing town quicker than than anybody else in rush hour. Even better it's you that's doing it, not the car or the oil it's burning, just you, burning off this morning's dodgy fry up. When was the last time you saw a fat person on a bike anyway? Even better, you get to see the world, I mean really see it. You can hear the birds and the buskers, smell the food and the garbage and actually catch a person's eye.