Cat 6 Racing supported by Science

According to a paper by the Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer, a person with a one-hour car commute must earn 40 % more money to have a sense of well-being equal to someone who walks (or rides their bike) to work. Fey and Stutzer say that people underestimate the down side of a long commute when choosing a home, and that psychologically, a long commute often negates the benefits gained by living in the suburbs.

“People spend a lot of time commuting and often find it a burden. According to economics, the burden of commuting is chosen when compensated either on the labour or on the housing market so that individuals’ utility is equalized. However, in a direct test of this strong notion of equilibrium, we find that people with longer commuting time report systematically lower subjective well-being. Additional empirical analyses do not find institutional explanations of the empirical results that commuters systematically incur losses. We discuss several possibilities of an extended model of human behavior able to explain this “commuting paradox”.

Happy Lucky 88 Manufactory has long held the position that wearing a CAFIB while commuting immediately increases the sense of well being for all racers in the Cat 6.

HL88 Product alert

Happy Lucky 88 Manufactory has taken the unprecedented action of warning its many world wide customers of a potential problem. Plywood is synonymous with HL88 and ubiquitous in their range of cycling accessories. Musette bags developed by the manufactory are made of the elemental form of plywood known as plywoodium (atomic weight = 88).

After a single complaint by one of the 2 owners of plywoodium bags, HL 88 has issued a product warning. Over ripe bananas can be lost inside the plywood interior of the bag, blending with the moray pattern in a nefarious manner. This is the first time in the history of the fabled Team Vitesse sponsor that a problem with plywood has been reported and it is likely to be the last.

Happy Lucky 88 Manufactory continues to live up to their motto "creating problems for existing solutions".

Johan's Unspeakable Passion

We all know and love the ribald antics of Johan, the omniscient manager of Team Vitesse. His tough love, dreadful gambling luck, seeming indifference to cycling and his habit of coaching with a hangover from bed all serve to remind us how truly reviled and revered he is within and without the peleton. During one of his rare conscious moments at the Tour this year, Johan agreed to reveal some of his private passions besides the obvious chicks, booze and drug lifestyle choices. Few people know that Johan is a collector of rare preferably ancient musical instruments and holds a degree from the University of Ulan Bator in rare and preferably ancient musical instrument identification. Armed with in depth knowledge and a keen desire, Johan has slowly aquired an exquisite collection of instruments of the world. Never satisfied with a mere sackbutor crumhorn, Johan seeks out more obscure corners of musical history.

When not managing 2 professional cycling teams, Johan scours the world web for deals. A certain Mr. Ahmadinejad of Iran was selling the strange and unique "dyadinidruel" and Johan snapped it up at at a bargain price roughly equal to the operating budget of Team Vitesse. No matter, for who would not desire such an instrument as this (unfortunately in artist sketch form only). Johan quite rightly fears that camera flashes and sunlight would damage the dyadinidruel. Ancient cave drawings show that this instrument was played mostly by children during recess.

No doubt Johan will organize the hearty bleating of the Dyadinidruel; likely blown and plucked by children during this year's Tour de France on rainy overcast days in the high mountains. The dyadinidruel will likely replace the Johorn as a fan favourite.