Bradley Wiggins can seem to do no wrong. First came his ridiculously successful season, with wins at Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, and the Dauphiné Libéré crowned by Team Sky's utter dominance at the Tour de France. Then he turned jaune to gold with a crushing time trial win at the Olympics. And now, riding the wave of admiration and goodwill, England's golden boy has announced his very own .
The Bradley Wiggins Foundation will promote participation in sport, provide scholarships for talented young athletes, and outfit schools and clubs with needed equipment. The foundation will launch on August 19 with it's premiere event, dubbed … wait for it … the . Open to the public, the cyclosportive features 100- and 160-kilometer loops (that's 62 and 100 miles for the metric-impaired, though I have no idea why these Brits have abandonned their Imperial standards) through the hilly northwest county of Lancashire, where Wiggins is said to have done much of his training. Given that the day's biggest KOM climbs a grand total of 851 feet with an average grade of 3.5 percent, I'm dubious that these roads were truly Wiggo's preferred preparation for some of the hardest bike races on the calendar.
But anyway, it should be a pleasant ride, and you'll get to experience daunting features like Trough of Bowland, Barley Fell, and Nick O'Pendell, which, mmm, sound more like specials at the pub than climbs. And if you're one of the fortunate few in the inevitably adoring throngs, you might get to pedal a few Ks next to the sideburned one. Judging by his current upward trajectory, it might be Sir Bradley by then.
—Aaron Gulley