Aaron's Cycling Highlights
The sport of cycling includes mountain biking, cycle touring, using bicycles for local transportation and for recreation. Cycling is extremely popular in Europe and is still growing in popularity in other parts of the world. In terms of organized sports most posters depict the perseverance of races or the excitement of mountain biking.
The most prestigious road race is France's three-week Tour de France, founded in 1903. Riders compete in a variety of daily stages at distances up to 260 km (162 miles) around France, over the Alps and Pyrenees, and into portions of five neighboring countries. The winner is generally acknowledged as the world's best cyclist.
There are two categories of mountain bikes competition: 1) downhill and 2) cross-country. Downhill mountain biking competitions parallel those associated with downhill skiing in that they both feature downhill, giant slalom, slalom and freestyle events. Downhill bikes sacrifice light weight for sturdiness and support and they are usually full suspension (front and rear shocks) which provides a great deal more traction and control. Special attention is paid to brakes which tend to be of the disc variety. Cross-country Bikes (although sturdy) are constructed to be as lightweight as possible. Gravity is not a friend here because climbing hills is the most important.
