Centrics: Cyclecentric

Practicing Mindfulness While Climbing - Tina Centofante

As a mountain biker, I live for the adrenaline rush of going downhill. There’s just something about finding the flow of the trail, gliding past the trees, and feeling my bike absorb obstacles while my body moves to find balance. This creates a certain sensation that I basically need on a daily basis. But in order to go down, I need to climb up some sort of hill first. And sometimes it’s hard to find a “flow” while slowly grinding up a long hill, whether it’s techy singletrack, muddy logging roads,…

Preparing for Belgium’s Road Furniture - Andrew McCullough

I’m sitting at the airport terminal in Burlington, Vermont, somewhat in a daze and trying to collect my thoughts. My next stretch of the season is taking me to Oudenaarde, Belgium, an area that is known for bike racing. That’s what I hear at least; I’ve never been there before and honestly have no idea what to expect.

The anticipation has been building for some time, but the past few days have been particularly anxiety-driven. I've spent a lot of time abroad before, primarily in Italy where I studied and…

Getting Motivated to Ride to Work - Matt Williams

So here's the thing, I tell myself: My commute to work by car is 15 minutes on the highway. My commute to work by bike is 30 minutes on a quiet, picturesque dirt road. It should be easy, but guess which way I get to work every morning? Right. I know, and repeatedly tell myself, that it's pretty easy to get up 15 minutes earlier. I also tell myself, and rightly so I might add, that I'm always crunched for training time, and that by riding my bike to work I'm basically getting a free half hour in,…

In Praise of Riding Rollers - Matt Boulanger

Over at Vermont Indoor Cycling, most of our riders show up with a trainer. The advantages of trainers are numerous: they are compact, many have adjustable resistance, and they don't require much of a learning curve – you just jump on and ride. And therein lies the biggest difference between a bicycle trainer and a set of rollers. The first time you get on rollers, you most certainly don't just "jump on and ride."

You probably set your bike on them. Then you gingerly swing your leg over the bike. Oops. The top…

These Southern Cities are Made for Biking - Dan Mahoney

My family recently returned from a vacation to Georgia and South Carolina. It was a wonderful experience and we got to see first-hand how communities can be successful at being bike and pedestrian friendly.

We started our trip in Savannah, Georgia. A wall of humidity hit us when we got off the plane. It was quite the difference from brisk Vermont!  We got to our hotel and got unpacked, then loaded up my son in his stroller and began to explore the city. There must be thirty or so gorgeous parks throughout the city, all set…