About Twisted Spoke
Hi, My name is Matt Walsh. I’m a failed Cat 5 road racer and cycling fanatic.
It is almost embarrassing to admit how much I love the sport. I can get passionate about every facet–the history and traditions, the famous riders and personalities, from Anquetil to Hinault to Merckx to Armstrong.
I love the equipment, the wheels, the gear ratios, the sound of the cranks turning, the adrenaline on a fast descent, the hard climb, driving the pedals. I like lycra, micro-fiber, cool, absurdly over-priced sunglasses, I like the classic steel frames, the carbon art forms, the ti goodies that never stop coming.
I love the sounds of cycling, the landmarks of the great races. Paris-Roubaix, Le Ronde, the Vuelta d’Espana, Giro and the Tour. Vive le tout. Sestriere, Alpe d’Huez, Tormalet, the Arenberg Forest and Carrefour l’Arbre, the moonscape of Mont Ventoux.
I love the stunning countryside of Italy, France and Spain, the small towns, the hill top chateaux, the tifosi yelling encouragement on the road. I love the familiar voices of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.
I love the fitness, the purity of the effort, the transfer of power, the lactic acid, the bursting lungs, the red zone, the heart rate monitor going anaerobic. I love the crashes, the demon descents, the relentless climbs. I like the recovery, the roadside cafe, the cappuccino.
Starting to get the picture? Yeah. And so I started a blog about pro road racing, mostly in Europe but the big US races, too. And guess what? I love writing about cycling. What a beautiful, beautiful sport. My dream job would be writing about bike racing so I’m going to work on my skills. Maybe even the Tour de France someday –hey, I was a French major.
Thanks for reading. Reader comments really make the writing a pleasure. Besides cycling mania, I’m an advertising writer, voice-over talent and storyteller in the San Francisco bay area.
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Twisted Spoke 
I love your site. Keep it up !
knowledgetoday
March 28, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Thanks, I just started this blog. How did you find me?
walshworld
May 8, 2009 at 1:07 am
Great site. I’ll be checking it often. Unbelievable credentials on Victoria Pendleton!
tequila 66
June 4, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Great site with great content, although I question the shameless use of a hot-looking female cyclist to pimp your blog. Please alert me of any updates on Victoria Pendleton.
AlpacaSuitcase
June 6, 2009 at 1:45 pm
like your blog so far, keep it up!
greets from europe
henk
July 28, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Your enthusiasm and passion for the sport shines through in your writing – keep up the good work.
Dr. Maserati
September 19, 2009 at 8:34 am
This is the blog that gives cycling a good, swift kick in the ass when it needs it.
Matt Walsh is obviously passionate about cycling, but he ain’t looking at it through the proverbial “rose-colored glasses.”
Dude, you’ve got it dialed in.
James Raia
October 3, 2009 at 5:26 am
Great cycling blog. Keep up the twisted humor. Thanks to James Raia for spreading the word.
Mike
Bike-Mikee
October 5, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I just wanted to send you this short message to tell you how much a enjoy your cycling blog. I read it everyday along with cyclingnews and a few others. Yours is my favorite. I hope you will continue for a long time. Thanks.
Todd
October 29, 2009 at 4:01 am
Todd, thanks for the positive feed. Regular blogging is quite a commitment and finding stuff to write about in the off-season is harder (thank God for dopng cases) but when I get a note likes yours it’s a huge boost in motivation. Don’t worry about me stopping, I’m in all the way and when the new season rolls around, I’m going deeper. I’ll be covering the Tour of Califonria in person, my first race with press credentials and free coffee. I’m super excited and plan on covering the tour de France within a year or two. Again, thanks for the note. I don’t know if you’re a tech savvy guy but the number one thing you could do to help is to mark my posts on the social bookmaring sites like Digg, Delicious and Stumbleupon. Matt
walshworld
October 29, 2009 at 3:20 pm
you’ve got a great approach to it all.
keep it up…
tres bon!
brent humphreys
November 16, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Hey Brent, your tour portfolio is awesome. If you don’t mind, I’d like to do a post on it although maybe I should be smart and wait until just before the Tour begins. I’ve been an advertising writer for 20+ years so I’ve been plenty of portfolios. You’ve got a great eye. Loved in particular the roadside crowd shots, the horizontals of them along the guardrail plus all the funny spectator ones. Vikings in Fog was great and pasture and peloton summed up the beauty of the tour for me. You should come out to Cali for the tour of California. Gonna cover it for the first time as a genuine writer. We should pitch a “backstage at the race” article for some mag.
walshworld
November 16, 2009 at 6:26 pm
i really appreciate your kind words. it’s clear to see you know your stuff by your BLOG content and again, yer approach is so refreshing. we are currently planning an exhibition during the TOC in SF on the 14th and will run through the 31st. we’ve secured a gallery space and now we are working on sponsors.
i love the idea of shooting something at the TOC and i know we could pitch it. let’s bat some ideas around. a behind the scenes look is what people that get it want. the long lens photos of sweaty riders is played out. no offense graham…
as far as posting my site, i agree with you on timing and all for july but i am trying to get people to my SHOP so we can keep this going. the economy is killing us and the cost for the tour is looming. perhaps you could post just about our shop but it’s clearly up to you. email me at my personal
account to continue yellow@projectletour.com
http://www.projectltour.com/shop
let me know your thoughts!
cheers,
brent
brent humphreys
November 16, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Just another cycling fan here to say, great blog, keep it up. You’ve got a great wit (loved the Back to the Future blog about Spain…hysterical) and an obvious passion. I agree with James Raia, you are giving the cycling world (particularly the cycling media) that much needed kick in the ass. There is too much material slanted towards bringing in the non-cycling fans, but the real fans need more (behind the scenes type stuff). Thanks for your contribution.
Brian Stephens
January 1, 2010 at 10:24 am
Keep the cranks turning…..
Marty
January 5, 2010 at 9:05 am
Hi Marty, an honor to have a 2 time TDF finisher stopping in for a read. Spread the word. Matt
walshworld
January 5, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Your blog rocks! And, ironically (prophetically? surprisingly? obviously? I am not the writer you are) I found your blog from your Rock Racing post.
Thank you for a fresh and funny take on cycling! Cycling gets too serious sometimes, love the humor 🙂
Cynthia Lou
January 11, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Cynthia, As one strategic, advertising writer and cyclist to another, thanks. Yeah, cycling does take itself a little too serious — because all the journalists are former riders and it’s a very in-crowd kinda world. But that’s changing. Just by chance, do you happen to know a writer down in LA named Jim Dipiazza?
walshworld
January 11, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Hi Matt,
Just a line to say that over here in Scotland, we really enjoy your blog, and it’s very well witten, light tone.
Taking a leaf from your tips, why not pop over to http://www.VeloResults.co.uk for some more ProTour content?!
Cheers, Martin
Martin
February 1, 2010 at 6:19 am
Martin, thanks for saying hi and I will certainly check you guys out.
walshworld
February 1, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Matt, I just started reading your blog and I love it. I’ve been tearing through the archives and I’m going to be heartbroken when I’m caught up and have to wait for new posts. One small thing did catch my eye on your “About Twisted Spoke” page. I think Sherwood is the forest where Robin Hood traipsed about and not the surname of a famous cycling commentator.
Your critiques are insightful, your humor is witty and through everything your passion for cycling shines through. I’m hooked.
Ryan
February 2, 2010 at 11:08 am
Ryan, that is a dream compliment for a writer — to know somebody is digging into the archives. Thanks so much. As far as Sherwood goes, it was either do a time consuming spell fix on the blog or tell Paul to change the spelling of his last name. Happily he agreed so now that is in fact correct.
walshworld
February 2, 2010 at 11:50 am
So I not sure who first told me about Twisted Spoke (might have been a James Raia story), but some of my team mates and I have been following it for months. Now the updated version of our team website (http://abrtcycling.com/) has links to new content on the key cycling websites: Cyclingnews, Velonews, Twisted Spoke and a regional cycling blog called GamJams. But Twisted Spoke is my favorite. I start my work day by browsing my team’s site for new headlines, hoping to see a new posting on Twisted Spoke. I am still laughing about the “revered Arabic cycling commentator Abdul Al Salaam” showing up in many recent stories on about the Tour of Oman.
Keep up the great work,
alimeller
February 19, 2010 at 11:45 am
That’s for the note and glad to hear you liked Abdul. I’m bringing him back next year. Annapolis, huh? As a small kid, I grew up im Hyattsville, Maryland and spent a year in advertising working in Balitimore. I’ll check out your team site — and good luck with your season. Hope you’ll keep reading as I’ll be doing some fun things for the tour of California (covering it in person, baby) and a Giro podcast that I think should be pretty funny.
walshworld
February 19, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Twisted Spoke on Michael Ball and the demise of Rock Racing equals brilliance. Bravo.
Cheers, James Raia
James Raia
February 22, 2010 at 9:21 pm
James, as you’re a true, working professional, I always take your comments as the gold standard. So thanks. We gotta take TOC asap. Matt
walshworld
February 22, 2010 at 10:05 pm