Team Sky make their own Christmas cards!

So simple and so wonderfully awesome and why didn’t I think of that?

New cycling caps!

In time for the festive season we’ve stocked up with more cotton caps. Check out the Rocket Fuel store for details

D.I.Y Tuesday – bicycle parking

Found via Bianchista the best bicycle parking ever and so easy to make too!

Rocket Fuel in training – cooking with Dr Lim

More on the cooking theme this week with these great videos from Dr Lim on the food prepared for racers.

Custom cycling caps – BTFU

Some not so recent custom caps which I forgot to share with you.

Happy Birthday Gus hope you liked the caps.

Bikes + Fabric = AWESOME

Being the big fabric nerd that I am I was so excited by this article that not only explained why Garmin riders during the Tour de France were sporting what appeared to be skin tight wet weather jerseys but also all the properties of the fabric!

Article from the Castelli blog here and thanks to The Englishman for the find.

The Daily Tweed – Special Cadel edition

We couldn’t let Cadel Evans historic win go past without a salute. It has been a great tour of highs and lows and champions of all nations battling it out for the win, truly inspiring.

This stunning painting from Rob Ibjema captures his winning time trial in style.

More of Rob’s cycling paintings can be found here thanks to The Englishman for the tip.

In the studio – Tour de France bearbricks

Things here in the studio have been busy as am sewing up orders, making new pieces for the site, organising the Sydney Tweed Ride and of course watching the Tour de France.

So today I am sharing some drawings The Englishman has been adding to his blog. Click on each drawing to see the story behind the bear.

The Daily Tweed – L’Eroica

Style of the pro peloton lives on each year in the L’Eroica. Wool, style, classic bikes perfect match for a Tweed Ride.

Rocket Fuel in training – the food of a Tour de France rider

I’m so fascinated by what a tour rider eats each day. How do they get the energy to race and recover day after day and is it really exciting to get your lunch handed to you each day in a musette?

These are the things I think about while watching the tour. So I was super excited to find this article which is what Thor ate one day during the tour.

A Day in the Stomach of Thor Hushovd

Breakfast:

Oatmeal

Toast with ham

2-egg omelet

Cereal

Rice

On the bike:

4-6 CLIF bars

2 packs CLIF shot blocks

2-3 CLIF gels

6-8 bottles of team race drink

Rice cake

Small panini sandwich

On the bus after the stage:

Rice

Curry chicken or tortilla la patata

2 bottles of team recovery protein drink

Dinner:

Stuffed tomatoes and zucchini with curry rice

Beet salad

Avocados

Spaghetti

Stewed turkey with prunes

Dessert:

Sorbet

It sounds pretty good really (except for the gels am not a fan of them, they are a weird texture for me).

Then I found this article on what his almost vegan team mate Dave Zabriskie is eating in a day

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with black strap molasses; whole food optimizer; cacao nibs; nuts; cinnamon; two tablespoons of coconut butter; an apple; hemp seeds and flax seeds

On-the-Bike Snacks:

Six Clif Bar Z bars (vegan); two Clif Bar shot blocks (vegan); two Clif Bar gels (vegan); dates; six to eight bottles of special team race drink

On the Bus, Post-Race:

White rice with maple syrup and cinnamon; vegan protein shake;

two bottles of special team recovery protein drink; goji berries

Before Dinner:

Vegan protein shake

Dinner:

White rice or pasta; salad with leafy greens; vegetables —including broccoli, spinach, carrots and beets.

Dessert:

Fresh fruit and a vegan protein shake before bed

Some of that sounds really yummy and certainly gives me ideas of what to take on my future long rides.