Ever wondered what it would be like to have Lance Armstrong pedal your bike for you? Well now you can find out, sort of. About 15 companies are now offering bicycles with an electric power option — as opposed to a purely engine-powered moped — for around $1,000 to $4,000 — and they are catching on with some green-thinking commuters. The latest electric bikes from Giant, EcoBike, Currie Technologies and Ultra Motor, among others, can deliver around 500 watts of power at the flick of a wrist or a turn of the pedals. That is roughly what Armstrong could generate over shorter races in his prime. The result is that you zip up hills or hustle along the street, silently passing all, but the most competitive two- wheelers.  (more…)

At 37 years old, Lance Armstrong is smack in Gen X territory. As he defies the odds and returns to the Tour de France, Lance signifies why his generation should not be ignored.  As with most generation labels, “Generation X” is a loaded term, first coined and later disowned by Douglas Coupland, author of the 1991 book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. For Coupland, the letter “X” was meant to signify the generation’s random, ambiguous, contradictory ways.  In Jeff Gordinier’s book “X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft But Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking”  he rails against the media myth that Xers are slackers, Gordinier argues that Generation X has — to borrow a ’60s term — changed the world. Citing Gen-X icons like Quentin Tarantino and Jon Stewart, along with Gen-X triumphs like Google, YouTube, and Amazon, among others, Gordinier argues that not only are Xers far from over, they might be the most unsung and influential generation of all time. “Gen-X stomping grounds of the past — the espresso bar, the record shop, the thrift store — have been resurrected in digital form. The new bohemia is less a place than it is a headspace. It’s flexible enough to bypass all the old binaries. It encompasses mass and class, mainstream and marginal, yuppie and refusenik, gearhead and Luddite. It’s everywhere and nowhere in particular,” he writes. In short, “GenXers are doing the quiet work of keeping America from sucking. As I look at Lance sticking it to the naysayers and breaking all the rules, all I can think is, “Go Lance Go!”  (more…)

Rumors are swirling that 7 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is returning to competitive cycling. Armstrong re-enrolled himself into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s out-of-competition testing pool prior to August’s Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, where he finished second to Dave Wiens — providing fuel to the rumors. If true, Lance will join the growing ranks of elite athletes who are redefining conventional wisdom on aging and competition. If you listen closely, you can hear the collective French accented groan. (more…)  UPDATE:  He will. (more…)