A Guide To Competitive Cycling Terms

Every year, cyclists around the world turn to Europe for the three Grand Tours and a host of smaller events. Read on to learn a few of the terms used so you won’t feel out of place wearing your yellow jersey.

Cyclists in a Peloton

The Peloton on a Group Ride

If you’re interested in professional cycling, here’s a quick primer to the terms and events that you might hear about.

  • bicyle sproket address plaque

    A Sprocket for an Address Plaque

    Stage Race: Each day, the riders have to cover a certain course established by the race directors. These range from short stages (less than an hour) to very long (more than 6 hours). The winner is the rider who completes the course in the smallest cumulative time.

  • Tour de France: Considered the biggest of the big. This is the premier Grand Tour and the race that road cyclists dream of. It is a multiday stage race that goes around France and finishes in Paris with laps around the Champs Elysees. The leader of the race at the beginning of the stage wears a yellow jersey (known as the maillot jaune- it is France, after all).
  • Address plaque for mtb, mountain biking enthusiasts

    Plaques for Road or MTB Enthusiasts

    Giro d’Italia: Tour of Italy. One of the Grand Tours. Less history than the Tour de France, but highly regarded. Occurs before the Tour and many of the riders in the Giro do not ride the Tour.

  • Vuelta A Espana: Tour of Spain. The youngest of the three Grand Tours. Occurs after the Tour de France. The leader now wears a red jersey. This started in 2010, so you may still hear references to the Golden Jersey, which was replaced by the red jersey. Continue reading →

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A Pirate’s Life Is the Life for Me: Boater’s No Trespassing Sign

Funny Private Dock Marina Sign

Scare the land lubbers away

We don’t support using trespassers as bait, and “keel hauling” seems to be a lost art, but humor works.

Aarrr! Ahoy Mates! Pose we should wait til “Talk like a Pirate Week” in September to show this Pirate Keep Off the Dock Marina Sign, but by then the pillaging season is just about over. Keep dem dirty land lubber bilge rats off your private dock and off your property with Privacy Signs from Atlas Signs and Plaques.

Show your sense of humor and your privacy with this Pirate No Trespassing Sign. The skull and crossbones on the bottom of this sign serve as a warning sign to other pirates that you are not to be messed with. Continue reading →

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Commas: Are Those Little Things Dangling Into the Next Line Causing You to Lose Sleep?

“Who gives a *bleep* about an Oxford Comma?”- Vampire Weekend, Oxford Comma.

 

Picture of a Comma

The Comma: Know It, Love It

The comma, is a very, very, tricky, punctuation mark, to use, but, what’s even worse is when it’s used improperly such as in the first part of this sentence, it makes things very hard, to read. The preceeding sentence is an example of terrible comma misuse and outright abuse. But the rules for using a comma are quite complicated.

Now, this is partly because of what the comma signifies: a short pause. When we talk, we usually talk in bursts of between three to seven words. So if the comma signifies a short pause, we should sprinkle our writing with them, right? Not quite. Commas actually have a fairly specific usage guidelines and are usually just there to clarify something.

One very common joke is the distinction between “Let’s eat, Grandma,” and “Let’s eat Grandma.” The comma in the first sentence specifies the target of the sentence, effectively saying, “Grandma, let us eat.” However, the second implies that the object of the verb “eat” is Grandma and therefore supports cannibalism and matricide, which isn’t a very good idea (usually). Continue reading →

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Sometimes We Just Have to Show You What Our Customers Send Us

American Craftsman Address Plaque on a home

"Pls-tell-everybody-involved-that-we-LOVE-our-address-plaque"

Atlas Signs and Plaques receives a lot of testimonials and they are fun for us to read because they provide such positive reinforcement that our efforts are appreciated.

Vertical house number plaque on a stucco wall

I have received it and already installed it. It looks great – thanks

We especially love it when we receive photos of our signs and plaques prominently displayed on a house or business. These are just a couple and they are posted for fun.

The bottom photo was sent to us by a person from DPR Construction. I went to their site and was more than a little impressed by what they are doing around the country.

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Is it Right for US Government Owned Cars to Speed

Government owned car speeding down I90 the Illinois Tollway

About 90 MPH

Here is an actual picture from today, March 09, 2012 It is on I90 Illinois Tollway. The license plate is US Government 6037H.

My guess is that it is doing about 90 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. It was weaving in and out of traffic and driving very aggressively! (passed me like I was sitting still)

How many questions can we come up with:

  • Is going 25 MPH over the limit dangerous?
  • Is there a oil crisis? Isn’t gas mileage better at the posted speed limit?
  • Is the driver immune from traffic tickets? Is the fix in with the Illinois State Police? Do the traffic police see other government cars as “one of there own” and ignore the speed?
  • Why is the car pretty new and expensive? Isn’t that a waste of tax dollars?

I for one, would like some answers. It would seem prudent to get a police escort if it was really an emergency.

But hey, lets give him a break! Not everyone has to play by the rules.

For more incendiary comments and post just go to our Just What We Think blog category.

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