Fred Loves The Aussie

Well, another Tour de France is over and done with and for the first time in history an Aussie has won the tour! Cadel Evans put in a magnificent performance throughout the tour. His BMC teammates worked hard for him when they could and other times Evans simply just did it on his own. He never panicked and he simply put the hammer down during the individual time trial. Congrats to Cadel! The Schleck brothers put up a honorable fight but in the end Cadel Evans just had "it". That "it" is the stuff of champions and it's a well-deserved honor for Cadel!

I also think Alberto Contador showed the heart of a champion to fight back the way he did in the latter stages. Counted down and out early after some crashes and injury, Contador did the only thing he could do at the end...attack. It was a memorable performance, it truly was. Now, the conspiracy theorists in the world will say that Alberto managed to eat some of that tainted beef toward the end of the tour again. Hmm...

In keeping with typical Fred fashion I am wondering how many have rushed out to try and secure this:

Yes, that is the ride Cadel Evans rode to Tour victory this year. For most Freds in the cycling world Trek was the bike of choice simply because Lance Armstrong rode a Trek and if it was good enough for the Texan then it was good enough for Freds all over the world! Well, now that Cadel has won the Tour de France how many Freds out there are rushing to their nearest bike shop to secure the above BMC machine? It's a legit question.

Speaking of rides, I have managed to get a new bike myself. Yes, it is a Trek. I'm an old school Fred after all! I upgraded from this:

To this masterpiece:

I scraped together enough funds to purchase a 2011 Trek Madone 4.5. It was in my budget and still has enough Fred appeal to offend your average cyclist. The Shimano 105 group set hasn't given me any problems thus far and I've managed to put about 250 miles on it in the past two weeks. The saddle was a little rough on the "bootius maximus" (my son's interpretation of gluteus maximus) but I managed to work through it and it's fine for me now. In anti-Fred fashion, I went for the basic Shimano pedals instead of getting the matching 105 pedal set. I'm not quite sure what's wrong with me...I must be losing my Fred-ness. I also had the Bontrager Node 1 computer with the Duo Trap sensor installed and some Race Lite water bottle cages. Also grabbed a Bontrager cycling jersey and shorts. The bike was tailor fit to my size via my main man Kyle at Shenandoah Bicycle Company in Harrisonburg, VA. If you're in need of a bike or some service head on down to SBC! These folks are great and know their stuff! Good folks!

Well, that's it for now folks. Please spread the word about our blog. In the coming days and weeks we plan to add a section for our favorite cycling books, movies and equipment. We're also working on a logo and our own website so please be patient as the blog develops! Until then...Freds (and Friedas) all over the world unite!