Pro Cycling Manager 2006, now this is great fun! Finally someone has designed a video game for cyclists that provides not only entertainment, but lessons in tactics as well! This article will be a short review of the software and in the future, I’ll post updates on the season(s) I am racing.

General Performance: I purchased the game online and run the downloaded edition. You can find info on the game as well as download it and the patch here. The software runs fairly well on my laptop computer which has a 1.4GHz Pentium M processor, 512 meg RAM and a GeForce FX Go5200 video card. Now, if I try to put the graphics settings on high quality, the game runs slow or even locks up but I can run it at slightly above the lowest settings with few or no problems. Every once in a while it locks up when loading a race but (knock on wood) the autosave features of the database have so far prevented any loss of data whatsoever.

Customizeability: Not sure if that’s a word or not…but the game has it. Since it’s a PC game (as opposed to a console game) it’s fairly easy to modify the game software AND there are a host of hackers out there more than willing to do the work for us! As packaged, the game has a few teams that didn’t participate in the licensing. Discovery Channel is “Lost Channel” Phonak is “Phanek” or something like that and all the riders on those teams have goofy names (George Hencapie, etc). However, it’s very easy to download a modified database that corrects all the data. It’s even possible to find utilities that allow you to do your own modifications. I easily created one that changed one of the small continental teams to Team OneCall Now. I am now in the middle of a season managing the squad we’ll have next season! I even created custom uniforms for my squad. (Last night, I took the overall lead in the Tour de la Sarthe by winning the 11km TT….very cool!)

Career Mode: This is pretty involved. You have to manage the finances of your team, the training of the riders (if you choose not to let the computer do it) and your race calendar in order to keep your sponsors and riders happy. (They will tell you what they expect!) There are boatloads of races…more than enough to keep a 30 rider squad busy all season long. You have to hire scouts to find promising young riders and trainers to keep your squad progressing. You also have to negotiate contracts or your riders will all find work elsewhere. You can also just pick a team and a race and play individual events in “Race Mode”.

The AI: The computer does a very good job at tactics. It seems to chase the appropriate breaks at the appropriate times and let the right ones go. Don’t think you can expand your lead on GC by sneaking the race leader into the early morning break..the computer will chase you down like a dog! Bunch sprints are rightfully very difficult to win (especially if Robbie or Boonen show up for the race!) It’s possible to pull off the perfect leadout (like in the days of Super Mario and his zebras) but everything has to go exactly right and you have to have the perfect personnel. In order to consistently succeed, you have to execute sound team tactics and choose the proper moments to expend your riders energy.

Conclusion:Not only is this game great fun, it’s a good way to learn tactics and get a better understanding of why cycling is a team sport. Stay tuned for on-going coverage of my PCM Team OneCall Now race season….I think we may make the Pro Tour for 2007!

Hello everyone! I thought I’d kick this blog off with a nice light philosophical discussion! What is the meaning of life? Why are we starting a new team? Why a blog? In the next few minutes I will attempt to answer these questions…let’s begin with the later.

I was told that the most important part of a website is its content. This blog is here so that you will have the opportunity to get to know me and the other members of our team a little better. Hopefully, along the way, you will be informed, entertained and perhaps even convinced to join us in our cause! Please feel free to participate! Comment at will!

Why a new team? Same reason! Content! If you’ve looked around at a local bike race in our area, you may have noticed that there are not a lot of younger riders getting involved in the sport. While Masters races are fine and dandy in their own way, there aren’t going to be a lot of future olympians or Tour de France winners coming out of the 40+ divisions! Granted, us 40+ers can more easily afford the equipment and ever steepening entry fees but the future of our sport lies elsewhere! This is where Project Velo Racing comes in! The primary content of our team are those younger riders who have the potential to have an impact on the sport’s future. Our focus is on making things possible that may not have been possible otherwise. Watch for our riders, they’ll probably be the ones you are chasing!

And last but certainly not least…the meaning of life. (I’ll try to keep it short) I personally believe that you are what you do. You can say anything you want, have the best ideas and/or intentions, but it’s your actions that tell the true tale! Life is too short. You must at least attempt to stand up for the things you believe in. If it doesn’t work out the first time, try it a different way but always maintain your integrity because it’s all about the content! Help somebody out, do something that nobody else wants to do, give a little. Every once in a while, you get to see things that make it all worthwhile and remind you why we are here!