Rapha, A Brief Review

Recently I received a piece of sample range from Rapha—the high-end cycling performance clothier based in the UK. They were interested in my thoughts on one of their undergarment offerings, so a member of Rapha USA forwarded some of their riding stock . Below is an excerpt from my review at Freeman Transport,

“When you consider the upper echelon of cycling performance wear—I am far removed from a riding clothiers target audience. When I mentioned this notion to brother Ferencz, he captured the sentiment by stating that I am a, “big brother trying to hustle in a small man’s world.”

Please click through for more on my latest contribution at Freeman Transport.

Black History, Memorandum

Whenever Black History is mentioned in everyday conversation, on television, or in a newspaper or magazine — history is reminisced to the familiar tune of King Jr having a dream, Parks at the front of the bus, and X by any means necessary.

Black History, however, goes far beyond the names of those we learn during our childhood and it goes far beyond the struggle of Blacks that has been watered down into made for television movies on BET.

History is a narrative. A story of acts, ideas, or events that will or can shape the course of the future; and there are so many stories in Black History that have yet to truly be shared.

While doing research for a journal article, I discovered a narrative about the 25^th Infantry Bicycle Corps; the original Buffalo Soldiers. From Fort Missoula, Montana (a place familiar to me as it is home to my friends at Freeman Transport) — the 25^th made history by simply riding a bicycle.

Written as a memorandum, my recent contribution to the Freeman blog takes a brief look into how the men of the 25^th Infantry Bicycle Corps rode into Black History with the turn of their pedals.

Heart, Like A Wheel

One of my new obsessions lately is to acquire rare and interesting books about bicycling. One book in particular, C.R. Woodard’s Scientific Training for Cycling, had been on my list for some time.

Originally published in 1951, Woodard’s notions about cycling, training and fitness would prove valuable to even todays competitive cyclist.

The chapter on Women in Cycling stood out among the rest given the ideas that C.R. Woodard was pioneering during a time when women in the 50s were returning to the household after starring as Rosie the Riveter in the second world war.

My latest contributor piece, Heart Like A Wheel (on the Freeman Transport site) delves into why C.R. Woodard believed women were just as competitive in cycling (if not more so) than their male counterparts.

He was definitely on to something. Marinate.

Good Habits, Clean Living

In the past few years living in Massachusetts, I have really gained a respect for the history of this place and the narratives of many of its historical figures.

One in particular is Marshall Major Taylor, a velodrome world champion in the early 1900’s from Worcester, MA.

My short piece about Taylor’s values on good habits for clean living recently published on the Freeman Transport blog — it is amazing how these notions can still be useful in todays modern society.