I forgot to mention this in the last blog I wrote, but what did we think of the projection on the Arc Du Triomphe?
I liked some of it. I really liked when they played the shadows of the reliefs, that was my favorite. But I wasn't a big fan of the stuff they played for each jersey presentation. I think it might have been more interesting if they played back snippets of the jersey winners riding in the tour, instead of those weird abstract things that happened. And WHAT was that content they played back and made Froome watch after he was given the final jersey? Every time they cut to him, his smile was, "Why am I watching this?"
The music wasn't great either. I think a little to techno dancey dance. Maybe I'm spoiled because I think this is the best album of music for cycling ever (featured in the Wide World of Sports coverage for 1986 and 1987). Just listen to the first song and imagine cut scenes of riding through the Alps.
I also think I'm a big fan of them finishing in the twilight and watching the helicopter shots of Paris as it lights up. Really like that warm colour of the street lights. I hope they continue that.
Alright, everyone back to discussing what will happen next year...
Happy happy riding.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
TdF Withdrawls Start... Now.
Tour de France 2013 is in the books. Chris Froome is declared the winner* with Nairo Quintana 2nd.
In terms of our pool, Marc is the surprise winner with an amazing surge by Joaquim Rodriguez in the Alps. The finals standing are as follows:
1. Marc - Joaquim Rodriguez (3rd - 5:40 WINNER)
2. Derek - Alberto Contador (4th - 6:27)
3. Arnold - Alejandro Valverde (8th - 15:26)
4. Dan - Richie Porte (19th - 39:41)
5. Manny - Dan Martin (33rd - 1:13:08)
6. Dave - Cadel Evans (39th - 1:30:14)
7. Tom - Tejay Van Garderen (45th - 1:38:57)
8. Blaine - Rein Tarrame (102nd - 2:59:09)
9. Craig - Chris Froome (1st place = last place)
10. Kevin - Thibault Pinot (DNS Stage 16)
11. Toby - Jurgen Van Den Broeck (DNS Stage 6)
So congrats to Marc. I'll be in touch to get you your gift card.
I was glad to see Quintana take the last mountain stage and the Polka Dot jersey. He seemed to me to be the best choice to win that jersey. It renews my hope that the polka dot jersey will be fought for again by pure climbers and not opportunists.
Speaking of the last mountain stage, While Froome may not have cracked it was nice to see that he could be beaten. Quintana and Rodriguez rode a smart race and just waited. Think of how many stages Quintana could have won if he waited to attack.
It was funny to see Quintana on the final podium on the Champs-Elysees receiving the final polka dot jersey. Standing on the top step, he was still shorter than the two podium girls! He is a slight man, which makes him a top climber. And hopefully will be for years to come.
The green jersey competition sort of sputtered out at the end for me. Sagan built an unassailable points lead and it was impossible for anyone to challenge.
It was nice to see Kittel win on the Champs-Elysees. I like it when lesser teams have great success in the Tour. It just goes to show that sometimes having a lot of money and a lot of top talent is not always the recipe for success. Are you listening BMC, the New York Yankee's and the New York Rangers?
I can't say it was a "Changing of the guards" and Cavendish is on the way out. I just think he's had trouble getting the train together that he had on High Road and Columbia when he was unbeatable. Perhaps the puncture on the boulevard sapped to much energy from him. In any case, I hope there's a better challenge for the green jersey next year, and if anything, 4 people who could win the sprints should continue to make flat stages interesting.
What the flip happened to Lieuwe Westra? Less than 40k until the end of the race and he ABANDONS? What happened?
In the search for the answer to this question I did find this AWESOME VIDEO of a guy getting tripped while chasing Van Garderen up the l'Alpe d'Huez. While I feel bad for the guy who face plants into the pavement, he shouldn't be running after the riders. It's just dangerous.
Just read that the Directeur Sportif, John Lelangue has left BMC for personal reasons. We'll probably never know the true reasons, but they were definitely a team without a rudder this tour. I don't think it was his fault, but it sure seems he's taking the fall for it. The highlight was Tejay's second place on l'Alpe d'Huez. I'm betting there will be a big shuffle on that team in the off season.
Time to start counting the days until the start in England next year.
Happy riding!
*While Froome my not have doped, he did cheat on l'Alpe d'Huez. I'm not going to let that go.
In terms of our pool, Marc is the surprise winner with an amazing surge by Joaquim Rodriguez in the Alps. The finals standing are as follows:
1. Marc - Joaquim Rodriguez (3rd - 5:40 WINNER)
2. Derek - Alberto Contador (4th - 6:27)
3. Arnold - Alejandro Valverde (8th - 15:26)
4. Dan - Richie Porte (19th - 39:41)
5. Manny - Dan Martin (33rd - 1:13:08)
6. Dave - Cadel Evans (39th - 1:30:14)
7. Tom - Tejay Van Garderen (45th - 1:38:57)
8. Blaine - Rein Tarrame (102nd - 2:59:09)
9. Craig - Chris Froome (1st place = last place)
10. Kevin - Thibault Pinot (DNS Stage 16)
11. Toby - Jurgen Van Den Broeck (DNS Stage 6)
So congrats to Marc. I'll be in touch to get you your gift card.
I was glad to see Quintana take the last mountain stage and the Polka Dot jersey. He seemed to me to be the best choice to win that jersey. It renews my hope that the polka dot jersey will be fought for again by pure climbers and not opportunists.
Speaking of the last mountain stage, While Froome may not have cracked it was nice to see that he could be beaten. Quintana and Rodriguez rode a smart race and just waited. Think of how many stages Quintana could have won if he waited to attack.
It was funny to see Quintana on the final podium on the Champs-Elysees receiving the final polka dot jersey. Standing on the top step, he was still shorter than the two podium girls! He is a slight man, which makes him a top climber. And hopefully will be for years to come.
The green jersey competition sort of sputtered out at the end for me. Sagan built an unassailable points lead and it was impossible for anyone to challenge.
It was nice to see Kittel win on the Champs-Elysees. I like it when lesser teams have great success in the Tour. It just goes to show that sometimes having a lot of money and a lot of top talent is not always the recipe for success. Are you listening BMC, the New York Yankee's and the New York Rangers?
I can't say it was a "Changing of the guards" and Cavendish is on the way out. I just think he's had trouble getting the train together that he had on High Road and Columbia when he was unbeatable. Perhaps the puncture on the boulevard sapped to much energy from him. In any case, I hope there's a better challenge for the green jersey next year, and if anything, 4 people who could win the sprints should continue to make flat stages interesting.
What the flip happened to Lieuwe Westra? Less than 40k until the end of the race and he ABANDONS? What happened?
In the search for the answer to this question I did find this AWESOME VIDEO of a guy getting tripped while chasing Van Garderen up the l'Alpe d'Huez. While I feel bad for the guy who face plants into the pavement, he shouldn't be running after the riders. It's just dangerous.
Just read that the Directeur Sportif, John Lelangue has left BMC for personal reasons. We'll probably never know the true reasons, but they were definitely a team without a rudder this tour. I don't think it was his fault, but it sure seems he's taking the fall for it. The highlight was Tejay's second place on l'Alpe d'Huez. I'm betting there will be a big shuffle on that team in the off season.
Time to start counting the days until the start in England next year.
Happy riding!
*While Froome my not have doped, he did cheat on l'Alpe d'Huez. I'm not going to let that go.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
20 Seconds Is Not Enough.
What ever respect I had for Froome and Team Sky, I think I lost today. On the final climb up l'Alpe d'Huez, Froome was cracking so Porte slid back to the team car, got what appeared to be an energy gel and a bottle and handed it to Froome.
Rules state that no feeding was to be allowed on the final climb up l'Alpe d'Huez. And yet, they willfully broke the rules. A 20 second penalty was given to Froome and Porte, along with a small monetary penalty for both them and the team manager in the car. This really bothers me.
Van Garderen was 3 kilometers from the finish, and he cracked. He didn't slide back to the team car and take on an energy gel and a bottle. He suffered until the end and lost the race.
It's like Froome and Team Sky are thumbing their nose at the tour and doing as the please to keep him in yellow. What if he didn't get the illegal feed? He could have lost way more time that the 20 second penalty he received.
We'll never know.
This infraction, in my opinion is, just as bad as if he were doping. He was cracking. He was losing ground to his competitors. If he truly wanted to win this clean, he wouldn't be breaking even these rules.
I read this article where he claims there was a mechanical problem with the car. Whatever. That gives you the right to break the rules? I don't think so.
There will always be an asterisk on this win by Froome in my book. He didn't win clean.
Rules state that no feeding was to be allowed on the final climb up l'Alpe d'Huez. And yet, they willfully broke the rules. A 20 second penalty was given to Froome and Porte, along with a small monetary penalty for both them and the team manager in the car. This really bothers me.
Van Garderen was 3 kilometers from the finish, and he cracked. He didn't slide back to the team car and take on an energy gel and a bottle. He suffered until the end and lost the race.
It's like Froome and Team Sky are thumbing their nose at the tour and doing as the please to keep him in yellow. What if he didn't get the illegal feed? He could have lost way more time that the 20 second penalty he received.
We'll never know.
This infraction, in my opinion is, just as bad as if he were doping. He was cracking. He was losing ground to his competitors. If he truly wanted to win this clean, he wouldn't be breaking even these rules.
I read this article where he claims there was a mechanical problem with the car. Whatever. That gives you the right to break the rules? I don't think so.
There will always be an asterisk on this win by Froome in my book. He didn't win clean.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
167
167th. That's where Cadel Evans finished today's time trial. I was scrolling down to see if Jean Christophe Peraud finished after he hit the deck a 2nd time and Cadel finishing in 167th caught my eye.
What a disappointment. I get that he wasn't going to win the tour but I thought he'd at least make an attempt to defend his position. According to one article I read, "Cadel Evans (BMC) is 18th overall at 24mins 24secs, after holding back energy for a hoped tilt at stage win..." Yeah. Sorry, but Cadel doesn't have the explosive power needed to breakaway on any of the mountains stages that are left. He's a better time trialist than climber and should have used today's stage to show some strength. If anything, do it for the fans.
He'd better get into a break in the next couple of days and make an attempt or I will be really disappointed with BMC.
BMC should be very disappointed with this tour. They've really imploded and it seems like there's a bit of infighting between Phillipe Gilbert and management as to what the goal of the tour should be. Gilbert believes they should be going for stage wins and not the G.C.. But it sounds like management was trying to hold a high place overall since it's important to gaining points for the UCI Pro Tour.
In this instance, I think Gilbert is right. They need to do something to save face, and stage wins would do it. I don't think they need to worry about UCI points with Cadel Evan's 3rd place in the Giro. I think after the Pyrenee's they should have let Gilbert fly. He's hungry for victories.
Enough about my team. I'm still disappointed.
...
I like Contador's bid today to win. He was riding as a man possessed. Too bad he didn't win. But he didn't lose by much. I guess a bike change at the top of the final climb was the way to go.
I'm of two minds on this one. On one side, I think you should start the stage and end the stage with the same bike, unless there's a mechanical of some sort that you have to change bikes. But the other side thinks, it's a level playing field and everyone has the option to do it or not. Old school, new school.
Big loser of the day was Bauke Mollema. Off the podium he goes. He can hold the wheels in the mountains, but put him against the clock and it's not so good.
The 2nd biggest loser on the day has to be Derek. Sorry buddy, if Contador maintains his 2nd place, you slip to almost the bottom of our pool.
Currently with Roman Kreutziger in 3rd place, no one in our pool wins. I think Manny with Dan Martin in 10th is the closest. But 10th is not 3rd. It'll be like the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005, no one won.
...
Huh, just as I'm finishing this blog post, this article comes out. I still think I'm right and Cadel can't breakaway to win.
l'Alpe d'Huez x 2 tomorrow!
Happy Riding.
What a disappointment. I get that he wasn't going to win the tour but I thought he'd at least make an attempt to defend his position. According to one article I read, "Cadel Evans (BMC) is 18th overall at 24mins 24secs, after holding back energy for a hoped tilt at stage win..." Yeah. Sorry, but Cadel doesn't have the explosive power needed to breakaway on any of the mountains stages that are left. He's a better time trialist than climber and should have used today's stage to show some strength. If anything, do it for the fans.
He'd better get into a break in the next couple of days and make an attempt or I will be really disappointed with BMC.
BMC should be very disappointed with this tour. They've really imploded and it seems like there's a bit of infighting between Phillipe Gilbert and management as to what the goal of the tour should be. Gilbert believes they should be going for stage wins and not the G.C.. But it sounds like management was trying to hold a high place overall since it's important to gaining points for the UCI Pro Tour.
In this instance, I think Gilbert is right. They need to do something to save face, and stage wins would do it. I don't think they need to worry about UCI points with Cadel Evan's 3rd place in the Giro. I think after the Pyrenee's they should have let Gilbert fly. He's hungry for victories.
Enough about my team. I'm still disappointed.
...
I like Contador's bid today to win. He was riding as a man possessed. Too bad he didn't win. But he didn't lose by much. I guess a bike change at the top of the final climb was the way to go.
I'm of two minds on this one. On one side, I think you should start the stage and end the stage with the same bike, unless there's a mechanical of some sort that you have to change bikes. But the other side thinks, it's a level playing field and everyone has the option to do it or not. Old school, new school.
Big loser of the day was Bauke Mollema. Off the podium he goes. He can hold the wheels in the mountains, but put him against the clock and it's not so good.
The 2nd biggest loser on the day has to be Derek. Sorry buddy, if Contador maintains his 2nd place, you slip to almost the bottom of our pool.
Currently with Roman Kreutziger in 3rd place, no one in our pool wins. I think Manny with Dan Martin in 10th is the closest. But 10th is not 3rd. It'll be like the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005, no one won.
...
Huh, just as I'm finishing this blog post, this article comes out. I still think I'm right and Cadel can't breakaway to win.
l'Alpe d'Huez x 2 tomorrow!
Happy Riding.
Out Goes Another One.
First off, some good news. Most of you have probably figured it out, but I emailed Toby to confirm...
He got his bike back! Yeah Toby! I hope it gives you many more miles of pure pleasure. It's funny, I was thinking what happened was, since the tour was in town, you're bike probably got thrown in with the rest of the bikes that were coming through. You've got that bag the pros use (me too!) so it was easily confused. Then it went onto a team truck, taken to the start line, pulled out, and when the mechanic opened it...
I'd like to think that was the case. Plus I could have sworn Cavendish was riding it to the win on Stage 5...
...
Sorry Kevin. Thibault Pinot has dropped out. Sore throat. DNS stage 16.
This shuffles up our pool a little bit. But not by much. See the column on the left for the current standings.
I thought today's stage would be relatively uneventful. But had some good moments in it.
It was nice to see Contador on the attack. I don't think he's trying to catch Froome, but trying to distance himself from Mollema to move up into 2nd place. He still has a jump, which was nice to see.
I can never tell if he just slows and drifts back to the peloton, or if Porte and Froome raise the tempo and drag him back. If that's the case, then once they catch him, it doesn't seem like they slow back down. Maybe I'm just not watching close enough.
Interesting to see Contador misjudge a corner and then take out Froome. I could tell Froome was mad about having to unclip after running off the road for a spell. Why was he mad? Because someone is attacking at a point that most people wouldn't attack? Shouldn't he expect to get hit from every direction all the time from the people who want to beat him? And then to try and wave Contador forward to make him take a pull on the flat run into town? Why should he? Froome's the Malliot Jaune. Why would Contador want to help him.
And while we're at it, what was with the thumbs up from Contador to Quintana? I don't think Quintana attacked. They were going downhill, Contador was risking it all and missed to corner. Was everybody supposed to stop and wait for him?
I get the gentlemanly fair play that goes on in the sport, but I think that pulling over and waiting because someone crashed should really be for the yellow jersey wearer and a rival close enough to unseat the leader. That's why I think waiting for Lance Dopestrong back in 2003 (it was 2003 right?) when he was hooked by a spectator and crashed makes sense. He in yellow, the crash was no fault of his own so the riders waited.
Contador is not in contention for yellow. At best, he's trying for 2nd place so I don't think in they should have waited.
And besides, Quintana didn't attack. Contador made an error in blaming the young phenom. Let's see if it comes back to bite him in the ass.
Which it might in terms of a possible "Spanish Armada".
Rodriguez was active today. He put in a couple of digs to put some of the G.C. contenders in trouble. The big looser of the day was Laurens Ten Dam.
I think everyone is out for their own placings now. The fight is for 2nd place (and 3rd, for us). You could throw a blanket over the 2nd through 6th place riders. Quintana will have the help of his team, Contador his, and Rodriguez will be a wild card. And none of them will work together to dislodge Froome. It's too bad. It would have been nice to see them all hitting at him until he cracked.
Time trial tomorrow should be another chance to sort out the top of the G.C. I can't wait to see.
Happy riding.
He got his bike back! Yeah Toby! I hope it gives you many more miles of pure pleasure. It's funny, I was thinking what happened was, since the tour was in town, you're bike probably got thrown in with the rest of the bikes that were coming through. You've got that bag the pros use (me too!) so it was easily confused. Then it went onto a team truck, taken to the start line, pulled out, and when the mechanic opened it...
I'd like to think that was the case. Plus I could have sworn Cavendish was riding it to the win on Stage 5...
...
Sorry Kevin. Thibault Pinot has dropped out. Sore throat. DNS stage 16.
This shuffles up our pool a little bit. But not by much. See the column on the left for the current standings.
I thought today's stage would be relatively uneventful. But had some good moments in it.
It was nice to see Contador on the attack. I don't think he's trying to catch Froome, but trying to distance himself from Mollema to move up into 2nd place. He still has a jump, which was nice to see.
I can never tell if he just slows and drifts back to the peloton, or if Porte and Froome raise the tempo and drag him back. If that's the case, then once they catch him, it doesn't seem like they slow back down. Maybe I'm just not watching close enough.
Interesting to see Contador misjudge a corner and then take out Froome. I could tell Froome was mad about having to unclip after running off the road for a spell. Why was he mad? Because someone is attacking at a point that most people wouldn't attack? Shouldn't he expect to get hit from every direction all the time from the people who want to beat him? And then to try and wave Contador forward to make him take a pull on the flat run into town? Why should he? Froome's the Malliot Jaune. Why would Contador want to help him.
And while we're at it, what was with the thumbs up from Contador to Quintana? I don't think Quintana attacked. They were going downhill, Contador was risking it all and missed to corner. Was everybody supposed to stop and wait for him?
I get the gentlemanly fair play that goes on in the sport, but I think that pulling over and waiting because someone crashed should really be for the yellow jersey wearer and a rival close enough to unseat the leader. That's why I think waiting for Lance Dopestrong back in 2003 (it was 2003 right?) when he was hooked by a spectator and crashed makes sense. He in yellow, the crash was no fault of his own so the riders waited.
Contador is not in contention for yellow. At best, he's trying for 2nd place so I don't think in they should have waited.
And besides, Quintana didn't attack. Contador made an error in blaming the young phenom. Let's see if it comes back to bite him in the ass.
Which it might in terms of a possible "Spanish Armada".
Rodriguez was active today. He put in a couple of digs to put some of the G.C. contenders in trouble. The big looser of the day was Laurens Ten Dam.
I think everyone is out for their own placings now. The fight is for 2nd place (and 3rd, for us). You could throw a blanket over the 2nd through 6th place riders. Quintana will have the help of his team, Contador his, and Rodriguez will be a wild card. And none of them will work together to dislodge Froome. It's too bad. It would have been nice to see them all hitting at him until he cracked.
Time trial tomorrow should be another chance to sort out the top of the G.C. I can't wait to see.
Happy riding.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
And We're Done...
First off, this is not a good picture.
It looks like Froome is disco dancing. Staying Alive, as it were.
...
Chris Froome proved to me today that he will win the tour. Contador and the others fell away. I don't think there's enough climbing left to really take time out of Froome.
I wonder if Froome emptied his tank today, he certainly looked it. At the end he didn't look like a man under control, he looked desperate to finish. To stick enough time between himself and his rivals.
I don't think Froome will win with the margin he has. I think it will shrink a little. If any of the contenders have anything left, they will throw everything they have at Sky and try to dismantle the machine. If he truly did gas out, then all he can do is hold the wheels until the end. Which really is all he needs to do.
So congrats to Froome. Job well done. I'll be honest, not a fan of his. I don't think it's that I wanted to see him fail as much as I didn't want him to win so easily. Maybe my own selfish reasons for wanting excitement in the tour. This feels like we're going to slide to the end with Froome comfortably not having to "work" anymore for his win.
Unless he feels like pulling a Lance Dopestrong move and continue to decimate the field... Just to prove a point.
...
On another note, "F**king Quintana. That creep can roll." I just love watching him ride off the front of the peloton. Effortless. He's young, and hopefully has a lot of climbing left in those legs to continue to light up the tour in the mountains. A few years of experience and he'll start riding smarter races.
I think my excitement really stems from the idea of making the polka dot jersey relevant again. What this tour has lacked, in my opinion since Richard Virenque, is a pure climber. Granted Verinque may have been on dope, but he wasn't going for the yellow jeresey.
Quintana may be it for the next few years. While I love this kid, I don't think he'll ever be a yellow jersey contender. The G.C. men have always been adequate climbers and top time trial guys. Quintana seems too slight to be good against the clock. Once the road turns up however, he just seems to sprout wings. It's truly a joy to watch.
The green jersey has gotten a bit of a make over in recent years with the changing of the points tally in the intermediate sprint. Perhaps the ASO can do something to make the polka dot jersey more competitive. I think the biggest problem is bonus points awarded for the last climb and for mountain top finishes. I think all rated climbs should have the same exact point values. G.C. riders are always going to try hard on the last climb and one of them are, more often than not, going to win the stage. And thus the highest point tally on the day. Today was a perfect example with Froome moving into the polka dot jersey solely because he won the stage.
...
In terms of our pool, if the tour ended today the standings would be as follows:
Derek would win because Contador finishes third.
Marc - Rodriquez (8th)
Manny - Martin (11th)
Arnold - Valverde (15th)
Dave - Evans (16th)
Dan - Porte (26th)
Tom - Van Garderen (47th)
Kevin - Pinot (52nd)
Blaine - Taaramae (89th) FYI - Peter Sagan, a sprinter, is ahead of you at 68th place.
Craig - Froome in first regulates you to last of the finishers
Toby - Van Den Broeck (DNS stage 6th)
I think this will be the final tally unless someone else fails to start or finish a stage.
...
Tomorrow I'll work on a rest day recap of the week I missed. There was a lot to talk about, all of which now seems irrelevant, but exciting at the time.
Happy riding.
...
Chris Froome proved to me today that he will win the tour. Contador and the others fell away. I don't think there's enough climbing left to really take time out of Froome.
I wonder if Froome emptied his tank today, he certainly looked it. At the end he didn't look like a man under control, he looked desperate to finish. To stick enough time between himself and his rivals.
I don't think Froome will win with the margin he has. I think it will shrink a little. If any of the contenders have anything left, they will throw everything they have at Sky and try to dismantle the machine. If he truly did gas out, then all he can do is hold the wheels until the end. Which really is all he needs to do.
So congrats to Froome. Job well done. I'll be honest, not a fan of his. I don't think it's that I wanted to see him fail as much as I didn't want him to win so easily. Maybe my own selfish reasons for wanting excitement in the tour. This feels like we're going to slide to the end with Froome comfortably not having to "work" anymore for his win.
Unless he feels like pulling a Lance Dopestrong move and continue to decimate the field... Just to prove a point.
...
On another note, "F**king Quintana. That creep can roll." I just love watching him ride off the front of the peloton. Effortless. He's young, and hopefully has a lot of climbing left in those legs to continue to light up the tour in the mountains. A few years of experience and he'll start riding smarter races.
I think my excitement really stems from the idea of making the polka dot jersey relevant again. What this tour has lacked, in my opinion since Richard Virenque, is a pure climber. Granted Verinque may have been on dope, but he wasn't going for the yellow jeresey.
Quintana may be it for the next few years. While I love this kid, I don't think he'll ever be a yellow jersey contender. The G.C. men have always been adequate climbers and top time trial guys. Quintana seems too slight to be good against the clock. Once the road turns up however, he just seems to sprout wings. It's truly a joy to watch.
The green jersey has gotten a bit of a make over in recent years with the changing of the points tally in the intermediate sprint. Perhaps the ASO can do something to make the polka dot jersey more competitive. I think the biggest problem is bonus points awarded for the last climb and for mountain top finishes. I think all rated climbs should have the same exact point values. G.C. riders are always going to try hard on the last climb and one of them are, more often than not, going to win the stage. And thus the highest point tally on the day. Today was a perfect example with Froome moving into the polka dot jersey solely because he won the stage.
...
In terms of our pool, if the tour ended today the standings would be as follows:
Derek would win because Contador finishes third.
Marc - Rodriquez (8th)
Manny - Martin (11th)
Arnold - Valverde (15th)
Dave - Evans (16th)
Dan - Porte (26th)
Tom - Van Garderen (47th)
Kevin - Pinot (52nd)
Blaine - Taaramae (89th) FYI - Peter Sagan, a sprinter, is ahead of you at 68th place.
Craig - Froome in first regulates you to last of the finishers
Toby - Van Den Broeck (DNS stage 6th)
I think this will be the final tally unless someone else fails to start or finish a stage.
...
Tomorrow I'll work on a rest day recap of the week I missed. There was a lot to talk about, all of which now seems irrelevant, but exciting at the time.
Happy riding.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Echelons
Since Dan is tired I will have a go at yesterday's stage. It was a hummer, and just shows you how unpredictable a stage can be. And it also demonstrates that once the echelons form, not even the best riders in the world can close the gap. Unfortunate for Movistar to now be out of GC contention, as that would really have been a good alliance with Saxo to have more GC contenders to go up the road and force SKY to chase. But Belkin rode very strong also yesterday, and they can also help dislodge SKY from the Jersey as they have good GC position. And Quintana is not so far down on GC that he would be allowed to go up the road without some attention from SKY. So it should really be a great weekend.
Before yesterday, I was thinking that the Giro was taking it's toll on Cav. Didn't seem like he had the jets on when Kittel came off his wheel and beat him by half a wheel, but yesterday proved that he was still very much on his game. Even though he and Sagan didn't get their noses in the wind, it's still extremely hard riding to stay in the front echelon and take a minute out of the guys behind you......so for sure, hat's off to Cav and Sagan for getting into the front group when they did.
Now for just a little home brew, I was able to do one of the routes of the Ronde van Vlaandaren on Thursday. The Ronde van Vlaandaren museum is in Oudenwarde (where it used to finish and still should). Freddy Maertens is kind of the boss of the museum, and Manu (my Belgian 'training partner') knows him, so we hung out with him! He won 5 stages in the 1981 TdF …….and 2 x world champions……and heaps of other races (look him up on Wiki)…..an all rounder that could get over the cols and still win a sprint. He was an amazing rider. A very controversial finish in Barcelona at the World Championships when he was supposed to lead out Eddy, but it all went wrong and the slowest sprinter in the break, Felice Gimondi, ended up winning.
We ran out of time to go to the museum, but someday I will be back. There are 3 rides you can do from the Museum: Yellow is 100km, Blue is 120km and has most of the famous "hellingen" on the route, and red is 140km. If you eventually ride all three, you will have done all 16 hellingen (or muurs) of the Tour of Flanders. The cobbled climbs are very hard if you have to race up them, but not bad at my pace, but I found riding a 2km section of slight uphill on the cobblestones, trying to hold Manu's wheel was the hardest for me…..after about 500m you are cooked, and once you lose a wheel, you just can't get back on it, because standing up is impossible. Some of the cobblestones are as bad as Paris Roubaix (according to Freddy) and going down them????? Wow!
OK, fasten your seat belts, as today could be as unpredictable as yesterday, and then we have two big days. The Ventoux is an extremely hard climb, but the only climb of the stage, so I would expect Froome to rally his troops and you will see them setting a high pace from the start of the climb to limit anyone's ability to dance away. The next stage will be a different story. Thanks for reading......
Before yesterday, I was thinking that the Giro was taking it's toll on Cav. Didn't seem like he had the jets on when Kittel came off his wheel and beat him by half a wheel, but yesterday proved that he was still very much on his game. Even though he and Sagan didn't get their noses in the wind, it's still extremely hard riding to stay in the front echelon and take a minute out of the guys behind you......so for sure, hat's off to Cav and Sagan for getting into the front group when they did.
Now for just a little home brew, I was able to do one of the routes of the Ronde van Vlaandaren on Thursday. The Ronde van Vlaandaren museum is in Oudenwarde (where it used to finish and still should). Freddy Maertens is kind of the boss of the museum, and Manu (my Belgian 'training partner') knows him, so we hung out with him! He won 5 stages in the 1981 TdF …….and 2 x world champions……and heaps of other races (look him up on Wiki)…..an all rounder that could get over the cols and still win a sprint. He was an amazing rider. A very controversial finish in Barcelona at the World Championships when he was supposed to lead out Eddy, but it all went wrong and the slowest sprinter in the break, Felice Gimondi, ended up winning.
We ran out of time to go to the museum, but someday I will be back. There are 3 rides you can do from the Museum: Yellow is 100km, Blue is 120km and has most of the famous "hellingen" on the route, and red is 140km. If you eventually ride all three, you will have done all 16 hellingen (or muurs) of the Tour of Flanders. The cobbled climbs are very hard if you have to race up them, but not bad at my pace, but I found riding a 2km section of slight uphill on the cobblestones, trying to hold Manu's wheel was the hardest for me…..after about 500m you are cooked, and once you lose a wheel, you just can't get back on it, because standing up is impossible. Some of the cobblestones are as bad as Paris Roubaix (according to Freddy) and going down them????? Wow!
OK, fasten your seat belts, as today could be as unpredictable as yesterday, and then we have two big days. The Ventoux is an extremely hard climb, but the only climb of the stage, so I would expect Froome to rally his troops and you will see them setting a high pace from the start of the climb to limit anyone's ability to dance away. The next stage will be a different story. Thanks for reading......
Friday, July 12, 2013
Lucy, You Have Some Splainin' To Do...
I know we're half way through the tour, and today's stage was a monster that needs some blogging. But I'm tired and will to it tomorrow.
I know we're all experienced riders, but I thought you'd all enjoy THIS. Send to your friends who always say, "I don't understand how the Tour de France works."
Happy riding...
I know we're all experienced riders, but I thought you'd all enjoy THIS. Send to your friends who always say, "I don't understand how the Tour de France works."
Happy riding...
Monday, July 8, 2013
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
I saw it at the Cinerama theater in Honolulu. My mom caught the bus into town to meet me and my brother after school and walked with us down to the Cinerama which was about 5 blocks from my school. It was a 3:30PM showing, so the house was mostly empty. It also happened to be the first movie I ever saw at the Cinerama. Of course the theater is gone and is now an auto parts store... *sigh*
The title of the movie was "A New Hope". It was about the discovery a new Jedi to take up the reigns against the Empire.
And to me, that's what stage 9 yesterday was, "A New Hope".
While we didn't have a single Luke Skywalker to come to the front to battle the evil Sky empire, we did have a band of rebels. A rag tag bunch of riders who, seemed to come together and give this tour some excitement.
After stage 8, I was like most people. I had written off this tour as a forgone conclusion. Sky would dominate, Froome would win, blah blah blah. I was preparing to use my fast forward button on the DVR to get through two weeks of boring racing. Sort of like last year when Wiggo got into the yellow jersey and dominated from the front. Boring. The only excitement last year was within the Sky Team with Froome obviously stronger in the mountains than Wiggins. Very Hinault/LeMond.
Two teams lit the fireworks yesterday and showed that the Sky empire can be conquered. Someone smuggled out the plans for the Death Star (probably Toby) and gave it to Garmin and Movistar. And they found the 2 meter hole that led straight to the reactor core.
Sky blew apart.
Constant attacks by Garmin early, who have nothing to loose since, in my opinion they have no real G.C. hopes took the already tired legs of the Sky train and filled them with lead.
By the final three climbs, Froome was isolated. Movistar had 6 (6!) riders in the peloton, and Garmin had 3. Even Contador had two helpers. It seemed like Froome was doomed.
At the end of Star Wars, Darth Vader lives to fight another day. Froome has done the same. All he had to do was follow wheels, stay in the pack and limit his losses. He just had to look over his shoulder to make sure Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon weren't baring down on him.
And frankly he didn't really loose anything. No time was lost over Valverde and the rest. He finished in the pack of contenders.
The only real loser of the day was me. And Richie Porte. Me, because I picked Richie to finished third, and Richie because he lost 17 minutes.
I've seen the comments, "Movistar squandered their chance." "Quintana never committed."
I disagree. I think Movistar played it smart. I think if they wanted to, they could have decimated Froome, left him heaving on the side of the road and rolled home with the yellow jersey. But they didn't want to have to defend it for two weeks. They didn't bring a team for that.
I think Quintana was sent ahead to see how Froome would react. He kept jumping away to keep sapping the power from Froome's legs. Now everyone knows how much jump Froome has. Everyone knows that the Sky train can be taken apart. As long as the contenders don't lose huge chunks of time in the time trials, I expect a very exciting 3rd week in the Alps.
I'll be interested to see what happens next week. While it's mostly flat stages and a time trial, I wonder if anyone who's close in the G.C. will have a go. Why not send Dan Martin up the road and sap more strength from Sky?
The third week will be one of two things...
"The Empire Strike Back" or "Return of the Jedi".
I hope we just skip the 2nd movie.
Happy riding.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
F**king Quintana...
I watched stage 8 last night. Even knowing the results, I found it to be very entertaining.
On the climb up the Col de Pailhères, I kept hearing in my head, "F**king Quintana. That creep can roll."
I'm sure we've all seen the movie, "The Big Lebowski". And if you haven't you best get on it! The Dude has the line, "F**king Quintana. That creep can roll." When talking about John Tuturro's character, Jesus Quintana.
Except for the "creep" part, this quote could totally refer to Nario Quintana. He just rolled off the front of the peloton on the Col de Pailhères. Rolled right up on Tomas Voeckler and kept going. Then rolled right up on Christophe Riblon and offered him his wheel. A nice gesture, but he wasn't slowing down.
"F**king Quintana. That creep can roll."
I couldn't tell if he gassed out on the Ax 3 Domaines or if Sky set a mean tempo and reeled him back. He was / is a danger to the G.C., so they had to bring him back. He's got an awesome poker face. Reminds me of Lucho Hererra from back in the day.
Going home to watch stage 9 soon. I've successfully avoided knowing the results and can't wait to watch that sawtooth profile.
Happy riding.
On the climb up the Col de Pailhères, I kept hearing in my head, "F**king Quintana. That creep can roll."
I'm sure we've all seen the movie, "The Big Lebowski". And if you haven't you best get on it! The Dude has the line, "F**king Quintana. That creep can roll." When talking about John Tuturro's character, Jesus Quintana.
Except for the "creep" part, this quote could totally refer to Nario Quintana. He just rolled off the front of the peloton on the Col de Pailhères. Rolled right up on Tomas Voeckler and kept going. Then rolled right up on Christophe Riblon and offered him his wheel. A nice gesture, but he wasn't slowing down.
"F**king Quintana. That creep can roll."
I couldn't tell if he gassed out on the Ax 3 Domaines or if Sky set a mean tempo and reeled him back. He was / is a danger to the G.C., so they had to bring him back. He's got an awesome poker face. Reminds me of Lucho Hererra from back in the day.
Going home to watch stage 9 soon. I've successfully avoided knowing the results and can't wait to watch that sawtooth profile.
Happy riding.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Trivia Question
Oh yea, I forgot to give the answer to my trivia question:
Who was the last person to stand on the top step of the Podium in Paris as World Champion also?
None other than Greg LeMond........the best racing cyclist the USA has ever produced. And I would say that even if Armstrong hadn't turned into a toad.
Who was the last person to stand on the top step of the Podium in Paris as World Champion also?
None other than Greg LeMond........the best racing cyclist the USA has ever produced. And I would say that even if Armstrong hadn't turned into a toad.
Stage 8 and Beyond.
Sorry gang, have not had much time to write in this blog. After 3 days and 4 cols in the Alps, I traveled to Belgium on Monday, 1 July and the airlines lost my Eddy Merckx, and I still don't have it......might have got stolen in Nice at the airport is a theory. I have some big shots at Brussels Air trying to put some pressure on, but they just don't know where it is. And since I was traveling light, all my kit, including my shoes, were in the bike bag. Anyway, the Izoard was a lovely climb, and a very fast descent followed. Still a bit of snow at the top. My last day of the 3 day tour seemed like a nice 65km "boucle" on some really narrow roads but it turned into 2100m of climbing and a real burner the day after the HC climb of the Izoard.
I have to agree with Dan, I was very disappointed to see that nobody other than Richie Porte could follow Froome. But anyone can crack, anyone can have a bad day. I'm not sure why I am not a fan of Foome, I just can't get excited about him as a rider, but he certainly can climb, and he can time trial, so it looks foreboding for the rest of the GC favourites. Evan's performance today was expected, Van Garderen's was not, and neither Porito and Contador. I never really expected Schleck to do anything, but seeing Krueziger pacing Contador was grim! And what wrong with Hesjdal? He was just terrible today. Make you wonder how he ever won the Giro, as he has not done anything worth writing to Mom about since then.
But it's a 3 week race, and this was only the first HC climb of the tour, so I remain hopeful that someone can claw back some time and make a race of it. Great to see Qintana riding well and he went for it on the first climb and that is always nice to see.
But defending the Yellow Jersey is not easy on a team, and while they may be rejoicing tonight, it's very early in the race to control the peloton, so we shall see if SKY are up to it. We could see a team alliance happen: team after team sending their nearest GC riders up the road in an attempt to get SKY to work to hard for too long. Stay tuned.
I have to agree with Dan, I was very disappointed to see that nobody other than Richie Porte could follow Froome. But anyone can crack, anyone can have a bad day. I'm not sure why I am not a fan of Foome, I just can't get excited about him as a rider, but he certainly can climb, and he can time trial, so it looks foreboding for the rest of the GC favourites. Evan's performance today was expected, Van Garderen's was not, and neither Porito and Contador. I never really expected Schleck to do anything, but seeing Krueziger pacing Contador was grim! And what wrong with Hesjdal? He was just terrible today. Make you wonder how he ever won the Giro, as he has not done anything worth writing to Mom about since then.
But it's a 3 week race, and this was only the first HC climb of the tour, so I remain hopeful that someone can claw back some time and make a race of it. Great to see Qintana riding well and he went for it on the first climb and that is always nice to see.
But defending the Yellow Jersey is not easy on a team, and while they may be rejoicing tonight, it's very early in the race to control the peloton, so we shall see if SKY are up to it. We could see a team alliance happen: team after team sending their nearest GC riders up the road in an attempt to get SKY to work to hard for too long. Stay tuned.
One Stage Into Depression
I haven't actually watched stage 8 yet. I was excited to get to work early this morning, pop open my computer and watch the race on the Eurosport english feed. I'm a big fan of Sean Kelly. I like Phil and Paul, but I think NBC Sports has done a bit of over producing. But I'm digressing...
Circumstances beyond my control last night had me up late so I didn't get to work until after the stage finished. And as with all things on the internet, if you're not careful, information you're trying to avoid (like the results) can pop up.
So I saw the results.
Wow.
Depressing.
Such destruction by Froome on the first mountain stage. I don't think anyone is going to catch him. I hate to think the tour is over on stage 8, but the real contenders are just too far back. There's some fun to come in the Alps, but Sky is going to control the pace and anyone who has a chance will just get reeled back in. Even with a double climb up Alpe D'Huez. Everyone is now just fighting for stage wins.
I know I'm depressed by the performance of BMC. In case you didn't know, I'm a fan of theirs. I wouldn't buy a BMC bicycle. I love Campagnolo gruppos, and for some reason, it just feels wrong to put Campy on a BMC. I think the brand is too "young" and technological. If that makes any sense. Again, I digress...
Cadel did as I expected, but Tejay fell way off the pace. If I get a chance today (work starts in 6 minutes for me), I'm going to read the interviews to see what happened.
In terms of our pool, It looks like it's going to boil down to Arnold and I fighting for the gift card. I'm beginning to think Arnold did some serious research on this one. No one else thought to put Nario Quintana in their top 5, and that kid finished the stage in 9th place and now sits 8th on GC, well ahead of most of our picks. I need to know what Arnold is eating.
One more day in the Pyrenees tomorrow, but it's a downhill finish, which gives the downhill bombers a chance at the win.
Happy riding.
Circumstances beyond my control last night had me up late so I didn't get to work until after the stage finished. And as with all things on the internet, if you're not careful, information you're trying to avoid (like the results) can pop up.
So I saw the results.
Wow.
Depressing.
Such destruction by Froome on the first mountain stage. I don't think anyone is going to catch him. I hate to think the tour is over on stage 8, but the real contenders are just too far back. There's some fun to come in the Alps, but Sky is going to control the pace and anyone who has a chance will just get reeled back in. Even with a double climb up Alpe D'Huez. Everyone is now just fighting for stage wins.
I know I'm depressed by the performance of BMC. In case you didn't know, I'm a fan of theirs. I wouldn't buy a BMC bicycle. I love Campagnolo gruppos, and for some reason, it just feels wrong to put Campy on a BMC. I think the brand is too "young" and technological. If that makes any sense. Again, I digress...
Cadel did as I expected, but Tejay fell way off the pace. If I get a chance today (work starts in 6 minutes for me), I'm going to read the interviews to see what happened.
In terms of our pool, It looks like it's going to boil down to Arnold and I fighting for the gift card. I'm beginning to think Arnold did some serious research on this one. No one else thought to put Nario Quintana in their top 5, and that kid finished the stage in 9th place and now sits 8th on GC, well ahead of most of our picks. I need to know what Arnold is eating.
One more day in the Pyrenees tomorrow, but it's a downhill finish, which gives the downhill bombers a chance at the win.
Happy riding.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Focus Andy! Focus!
The big new not coming out the peloton these past two days has been Radiosh*t, I mean, Radioshack not renewing Frank Schleck's contract. He's supposed to be due back from his one year suspension on the 14th. But it looks like he's coming back without a team.
While I get that Andy is upset because he's older brother has been cut, he shouldn't be focusing on that. He should be focusing on placing on the tour. He's not going to win. At least I don't think so. Contador and Froome are in form. Even if Andy was at the top of his game (his early season has shown otherwise), he can't time trial his way out of a paper bag. I'm actually interested to see if/when he implodes on the tour, abandons, and then points the finger at everyone else.
Stage 7. How about that Cannondale squad? Light the wick and watch the rocket take off. They really put a hurt on the rest of the sprinters with that destructive pace. I love how at one point, the sprinters off the back just turned off the gas and finished... whenever. It's a long tour and tomorrow it really begins with the first mountain stage. Smart of them to ease it up. Should Cannondale have stop the pace when the others stopped pedaling?
I've also not been keeping up with the scratches. Been a busy week trying to get two things off the ground at once. Lost a couple of big ones these last two days. Two who made it to the top 5 in our pool. Dave had Christian Vande Velde, and Kevin and Janez Brajkovic. I feel bad for both of them, but especially Janez since his fall seemed a bit dumb. Next year for Brajkovic, but it sounds like Vande Velde is hanging up his bike after this year.
Off to bed with me. Must get up early to catch what I can of the first mountain stage in the Pyrenees!
Happy riding, even when the road turns up.
While I get that Andy is upset because he's older brother has been cut, he shouldn't be focusing on that. He should be focusing on placing on the tour. He's not going to win. At least I don't think so. Contador and Froome are in form. Even if Andy was at the top of his game (his early season has shown otherwise), he can't time trial his way out of a paper bag. I'm actually interested to see if/when he implodes on the tour, abandons, and then points the finger at everyone else.
Stage 7. How about that Cannondale squad? Light the wick and watch the rocket take off. They really put a hurt on the rest of the sprinters with that destructive pace. I love how at one point, the sprinters off the back just turned off the gas and finished... whenever. It's a long tour and tomorrow it really begins with the first mountain stage. Smart of them to ease it up. Should Cannondale have stop the pace when the others stopped pedaling?
I've also not been keeping up with the scratches. Been a busy week trying to get two things off the ground at once. Lost a couple of big ones these last two days. Two who made it to the top 5 in our pool. Dave had Christian Vande Velde, and Kevin and Janez Brajkovic. I feel bad for both of them, but especially Janez since his fall seemed a bit dumb. Next year for Brajkovic, but it sounds like Vande Velde is hanging up his bike after this year.
Off to bed with me. Must get up early to catch what I can of the first mountain stage in the Pyrenees!
Happy riding, even when the road turns up.
From First To Last.
We have our first casualty from our pool.
Jurgen Van den Broeck is out.
Sorry Toby. Last years winner is this years last place. The Tour she is an evil mistress.
It's been a brutal opening week to the tour, again. I'm not sure how I feel about the nervousness and crashes being the new "norm" for the tour.
Or has it always been that way, and we've just never had the same amount of coverage of the tour as we've had since doper #1 (aka Lance) brought it to the national consciousness?
If all this crashing and dropping out is a new thing, I wonder if there is anything that can be done. We keep hearing Phil and Paul tell us how "Everyone wants to be in the first 15 places at the head of the peloton." Start the tour on wider roads? End the stages on wider roads?
Finally got to watch the team time trial this morning. Always will be my favorite stage of the tour. There's just something magical about the uniformness of the teams. It really is the only time the layman can see the entire team working towards a common goal. All spiffed out in their matchy watchy bikes and aero helmets. It also is the stage that really can put the first dent in the armor for some of the contenders. Tejay and Cadel conceding 20+ seconds to Froome could be a death sentence. Neither of them are explosive in the mountains. Contador only lost a few, which he could make up when the tour turns uphill. But I don't know about his time trial abilities now. Seems he's lost a step (off the dope?).
Don't tell me what happened today. I've been avoiding the internet so I don't accidentally see the results. I'm off right now to finish watching the stage.
Happy riding and sorry Toby!
Jurgen Van den Broeck is out.
Sorry Toby. Last years winner is this years last place. The Tour she is an evil mistress.
It's been a brutal opening week to the tour, again. I'm not sure how I feel about the nervousness and crashes being the new "norm" for the tour.
Or has it always been that way, and we've just never had the same amount of coverage of the tour as we've had since doper #1 (aka Lance) brought it to the national consciousness?
If all this crashing and dropping out is a new thing, I wonder if there is anything that can be done. We keep hearing Phil and Paul tell us how "Everyone wants to be in the first 15 places at the head of the peloton." Start the tour on wider roads? End the stages on wider roads?
Finally got to watch the team time trial this morning. Always will be my favorite stage of the tour. There's just something magical about the uniformness of the teams. It really is the only time the layman can see the entire team working towards a common goal. All spiffed out in their matchy watchy bikes and aero helmets. It also is the stage that really can put the first dent in the armor for some of the contenders. Tejay and Cadel conceding 20+ seconds to Froome could be a death sentence. Neither of them are explosive in the mountains. Contador only lost a few, which he could make up when the tour turns uphill. But I don't know about his time trial abilities now. Seems he's lost a step (off the dope?).
Don't tell me what happened today. I've been avoiding the internet so I don't accidentally see the results. I'm off right now to finish watching the stage.
Happy riding and sorry Toby!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
As Long As We're On The Topic Of Helmets...
My DVR at home is full. Mostly with Sitcoms and other things I've got to watch, but I just sucked up the last 10% with Stages 3 and 4. I've not been able to watch and I'm very antsy about it. Working one show and designing another has sucked up all my free time.
I did get about the first 15 minutes of stage 3 last night while I ate my dinner. It's interesting to me that this year, they (NBC Sports) has been showing the stages from start to finish. Usually the pop in somewhere about an hour or so in. Of course, the stages on Corsica have been shorter...
The cycling companies are back at it again this year. Keeping the trend of helmets with greater aerodynamics and less venting this year is Specialized with the Evade. Here's an article with good pictures of the new helmet. I understand they've had prototypes in the peloton all year (Notably on Cavendish's melon). And I agree with the author. It's an ugly helmet. It looks like the alien's head from the Alien movies. Was this helmet also designed by H.R. Geiger?
It reminds me of this helmet from the late 1980's:
I guess what's old is new again. Even back then, this was an ugly helmet. Although this one looks more Greecian warrior than Alien head.
I did notice that on the first stage, Contador was wearing the Evade, but on the 2nd stage he switched back to his regular vented helmet. Perhaps because of the climbs?
At this level of the sport, I can see understand how saving wattage and power is important. Any advantage one can get is good. But it is worth it for the weekend warrior or the layman like me?
Frankly, I own a Cateye because it's got a bunch of huge vents and my head is cool even when I'm standing at a stop light. It also makes great helmet hair.
So I won't be rushing out to buy the Evade like I didn't rush out to buy the Giro Air Attack.
Happy riding.
I did get about the first 15 minutes of stage 3 last night while I ate my dinner. It's interesting to me that this year, they (NBC Sports) has been showing the stages from start to finish. Usually the pop in somewhere about an hour or so in. Of course, the stages on Corsica have been shorter...
The cycling companies are back at it again this year. Keeping the trend of helmets with greater aerodynamics and less venting this year is Specialized with the Evade. Here's an article with good pictures of the new helmet. I understand they've had prototypes in the peloton all year (Notably on Cavendish's melon). And I agree with the author. It's an ugly helmet. It looks like the alien's head from the Alien movies. Was this helmet also designed by H.R. Geiger?
It reminds me of this helmet from the late 1980's:
I guess what's old is new again. Even back then, this was an ugly helmet. Although this one looks more Greecian warrior than Alien head.
I did notice that on the first stage, Contador was wearing the Evade, but on the 2nd stage he switched back to his regular vented helmet. Perhaps because of the climbs?
At this level of the sport, I can see understand how saving wattage and power is important. Any advantage one can get is good. But it is worth it for the weekend warrior or the layman like me?
Frankly, I own a Cateye because it's got a bunch of huge vents and my head is cool even when I'm standing at a stop light. It also makes great helmet hair.
So I won't be rushing out to buy the Evade like I didn't rush out to buy the Giro Air Attack.
Happy riding.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
What Do You Think This Is? A Rock and Roll Tour? - And - AHHHHHHH! WHY AM I SCREAMING AT THE TV?
Sorry I'm covering the first two stages in one blog. Those sneaky deakeys at NBC Sports call the show "The Tour de France" and my DVR is set to record anything named "Cycling". Which is what NBC Sports calls every other cycling event the show.
So I basically missed the 4:30AM live coverage of the 1st stage and had to wait until the evening coverage to watch the debacle that happened at the finish line.
And what a debacle! The last time I saw a bus get wedged under something was a double-decker tour bus getting stuck under a low / old bridge in Spain while I was on tour. This is why you never sleep in the front bunks on the top floor.
Who's to blame on this one? The bus driver? Orica-Greenedge's management? The tour organizers? I think there's plenty of blame to go around. And all parties are in the wrong.
I'm sure everyone has seen what happened so I won't go into the details, but I will tell you why I think everyone is to blame.
Why is Orica-Greenedge's management to blame? Because someone within their organization made the genius decision that the best place to meet the riders after the race would be at the hotel. THEN that same person, or someone of an equal or higher pay grade decided it would be better to take the bus to the finish line. Thus, the bus was later that the rest of the caravan. The finish line timer was lowered to what I'll call "race height". And smash! Bus gets stuck.
Why is the driver to blame? Because he drives the bus, he should know his vehicle and it's height. Every tour bus driver, every semi truck driver I've ever met, knows the height of their vehicle and what they can and can't get under. How many times has the bus driver on your tour had to let the air out of his shocks to get the bus low enough to enter the Lincoln tunnel to NYC? Usually the Van Hools. Those things ride high.
Even I know the limitations of my Toyota Tacoma and where my biggest blind spot is... rear drivers side. How did I find this out? I've smashed it twice into walls while backing into or out of parking spaces.
The bus driver's spidey senses should have started tingling as he approached the finish line. He should have stopped, gotten out, and looked to see if he was going to clear. If you watch any of the videos of the event, you can see him looking up as he approached. It's obvious to me he doesn't know the height of his bus. And smash! Bus gets stuck.
Why is the tour organizers to blame? Because someone should have known/remembered that they lowered the finish line timer in and ran out and stopped the bus like Tienanmen Square. Someone had to have said, "Okay, all the buses are through, lower the sign." They are also to blame because they should have told Orica-Greenedge, "Sorry too late, you were supposed to be here at this time and you weren't. Go park at the hotel." If that happened then the bus would have working A/C. But it didn't happen. And smash! Bus gets stuck.
They need a site coordinator who's good with details. I wonder if I know someone like that (you know I'm winking in your direction).
So Orica-Greenedge got fined $10,000 Euro's for smashing the sign. Seems a bit unfair. If I was managing the team, I'd send the bill to fix the A/C to ASO sports, the Tour's promoter.
Kudo's to the crew who were fast on their feet and came up with a solution to get the bus unstuck in time. I'm sure it was the guys who everyday set up the barricade, build all the tents and media areas. Those guys are the "roadies" of the tour. And being a roadie (or former roadie) I know they're the ones who came up with the solution. They actually came up with two solutions, when the guy with the industrial forklift came out to help.
And while the guys with the dirty hands were solving the problem, the guys in the white shirts were possibly creating more. Stop the race at 3km to go? But don't tell the riders? Seems like a good case for race radios... But that's another blog.
If I was in a white shirt, here's what I would have done. I would have gotten the red referee's car out in front of the pack and had him weave back and forth like the highway patrol creating a traffic break, and slow the peloton. I'd get on the bull horn and tell the riders the race is being neutralized due to a bus being stuck under the finish line timer. There was no breakaway up the road by the time this happened, so even if I had to come to a complete stop of the peloton to get the bus out I would. Once the bus was clear, I'd give them 1km to get back up to speed, and let the race resume.
This could have saved the crash that sent Tony Martin flying and delaying the sprinters from their destiny.
In any case, I'm sure there's a plan in place in case something like this ever happens again.
....
And now stage 2...
Was anyone else besides me screaming at the TV right at the end? I'm not really a fan of Radioshack (Go BMC!) but anytime I see someone about to succeed with a break away, I can help but root for that person. It was so incredibly close for Jan Bakelants. You could see in the last 50 meter's he had nothing in the tank His legs were just moving by inertia. How can you not stand and scream "ALLEZ!" at your TV? What a perfectly timed move. I don't think he was saying to himself, "Okay, I know I've got 2km of good effort in my legs off I go." It was probably more along the lines of, "Everyone else in the breakaway has given up, may as well give it a go."
And it worked.
By one second, ONE second, it worked.
What must that feel like? You can't go any faster and the pack is barring down on you?
I had a similar experience in my very first race. It was the downtown criterium in Honolulu. 20 laps around Honolulu Hale (the Mayor's office and the rest of the government buildings). Each lap is about a mile long and I was racing in the Cat 5, or "newbie" division. I was able to stick with the pack (about 20 or so) for the first few laps, but by 5 I was off the back. So I rode my lonely tempo for another 13 laps. As a matter of fact, here's a picture of me on one of my lonely laps.
Note the yellow Kiwi helmet, I talked about last year when Giro was test driving their new helmet.
I've got two laps left to go and I'm on the back straight when I look over my shoulder and see the peloton baring down on me. The adreanlin started to pump. I up shifted, stood on my pedals and cranked as hard as I could. I had to get to the finish line for my bell lap before getting passed or I would be disqualified. I was 100 meters from the line when the tank ran out. I hit the wall. My legs were going around, but I wasn't pedaling. I was mouth open gasping for air. I could hear the 50 people who had gathered to watch screaming at me, "Allez! Allez!".
Alright, they weren't screaming that. But it would have been cool if they were.
Somehow I made it across the line before the bunch caught me. I remember the winner, a teammate of mine winning the race and going past me arms up. But I still had one lonely lap to complete and no energy to do it.
Some how I did.
To note, that is my first "race" bike. A 1970's Schwinn Le Tour. I spent so much time fixing that bike and souping it up. That bike does have a history.
It competed in one of the very first Ironman triathlons when they were still held on the island of O'ahu and not in Kona where they are now. My uncle raced the Ironman and then gave me the bike.
I think it's in a box in my dad's attic. Although my dad has been cleaning out the house and throwing things away. He may have put it in the recycling bin...
Happy riding.
So I basically missed the 4:30AM live coverage of the 1st stage and had to wait until the evening coverage to watch the debacle that happened at the finish line.
And what a debacle! The last time I saw a bus get wedged under something was a double-decker tour bus getting stuck under a low / old bridge in Spain while I was on tour. This is why you never sleep in the front bunks on the top floor.
Who's to blame on this one? The bus driver? Orica-Greenedge's management? The tour organizers? I think there's plenty of blame to go around. And all parties are in the wrong.
I'm sure everyone has seen what happened so I won't go into the details, but I will tell you why I think everyone is to blame.
Why is Orica-Greenedge's management to blame? Because someone within their organization made the genius decision that the best place to meet the riders after the race would be at the hotel. THEN that same person, or someone of an equal or higher pay grade decided it would be better to take the bus to the finish line. Thus, the bus was later that the rest of the caravan. The finish line timer was lowered to what I'll call "race height". And smash! Bus gets stuck.
Why is the driver to blame? Because he drives the bus, he should know his vehicle and it's height. Every tour bus driver, every semi truck driver I've ever met, knows the height of their vehicle and what they can and can't get under. How many times has the bus driver on your tour had to let the air out of his shocks to get the bus low enough to enter the Lincoln tunnel to NYC? Usually the Van Hools. Those things ride high.
Even I know the limitations of my Toyota Tacoma and where my biggest blind spot is... rear drivers side. How did I find this out? I've smashed it twice into walls while backing into or out of parking spaces.
The bus driver's spidey senses should have started tingling as he approached the finish line. He should have stopped, gotten out, and looked to see if he was going to clear. If you watch any of the videos of the event, you can see him looking up as he approached. It's obvious to me he doesn't know the height of his bus. And smash! Bus gets stuck.
Why is the tour organizers to blame? Because someone should have known/remembered that they lowered the finish line timer in and ran out and stopped the bus like Tienanmen Square. Someone had to have said, "Okay, all the buses are through, lower the sign." They are also to blame because they should have told Orica-Greenedge, "Sorry too late, you were supposed to be here at this time and you weren't. Go park at the hotel." If that happened then the bus would have working A/C. But it didn't happen. And smash! Bus gets stuck.
They need a site coordinator who's good with details. I wonder if I know someone like that (you know I'm winking in your direction).
So Orica-Greenedge got fined $10,000 Euro's for smashing the sign. Seems a bit unfair. If I was managing the team, I'd send the bill to fix the A/C to ASO sports, the Tour's promoter.
Kudo's to the crew who were fast on their feet and came up with a solution to get the bus unstuck in time. I'm sure it was the guys who everyday set up the barricade, build all the tents and media areas. Those guys are the "roadies" of the tour. And being a roadie (or former roadie) I know they're the ones who came up with the solution. They actually came up with two solutions, when the guy with the industrial forklift came out to help.
And while the guys with the dirty hands were solving the problem, the guys in the white shirts were possibly creating more. Stop the race at 3km to go? But don't tell the riders? Seems like a good case for race radios... But that's another blog.
If I was in a white shirt, here's what I would have done. I would have gotten the red referee's car out in front of the pack and had him weave back and forth like the highway patrol creating a traffic break, and slow the peloton. I'd get on the bull horn and tell the riders the race is being neutralized due to a bus being stuck under the finish line timer. There was no breakaway up the road by the time this happened, so even if I had to come to a complete stop of the peloton to get the bus out I would. Once the bus was clear, I'd give them 1km to get back up to speed, and let the race resume.
This could have saved the crash that sent Tony Martin flying and delaying the sprinters from their destiny.
In any case, I'm sure there's a plan in place in case something like this ever happens again.
....
And now stage 2...
Was anyone else besides me screaming at the TV right at the end? I'm not really a fan of Radioshack (Go BMC!) but anytime I see someone about to succeed with a break away, I can help but root for that person. It was so incredibly close for Jan Bakelants. You could see in the last 50 meter's he had nothing in the tank His legs were just moving by inertia. How can you not stand and scream "ALLEZ!" at your TV? What a perfectly timed move. I don't think he was saying to himself, "Okay, I know I've got 2km of good effort in my legs off I go." It was probably more along the lines of, "Everyone else in the breakaway has given up, may as well give it a go."
And it worked.
By one second, ONE second, it worked.
What must that feel like? You can't go any faster and the pack is barring down on you?
I had a similar experience in my very first race. It was the downtown criterium in Honolulu. 20 laps around Honolulu Hale (the Mayor's office and the rest of the government buildings). Each lap is about a mile long and I was racing in the Cat 5, or "newbie" division. I was able to stick with the pack (about 20 or so) for the first few laps, but by 5 I was off the back. So I rode my lonely tempo for another 13 laps. As a matter of fact, here's a picture of me on one of my lonely laps.
Note the yellow Kiwi helmet, I talked about last year when Giro was test driving their new helmet.
I've got two laps left to go and I'm on the back straight when I look over my shoulder and see the peloton baring down on me. The adreanlin started to pump. I up shifted, stood on my pedals and cranked as hard as I could. I had to get to the finish line for my bell lap before getting passed or I would be disqualified. I was 100 meters from the line when the tank ran out. I hit the wall. My legs were going around, but I wasn't pedaling. I was mouth open gasping for air. I could hear the 50 people who had gathered to watch screaming at me, "Allez! Allez!".
Alright, they weren't screaming that. But it would have been cool if they were.
Somehow I made it across the line before the bunch caught me. I remember the winner, a teammate of mine winning the race and going past me arms up. But I still had one lonely lap to complete and no energy to do it.
Some how I did.
To note, that is my first "race" bike. A 1970's Schwinn Le Tour. I spent so much time fixing that bike and souping it up. That bike does have a history.
It competed in one of the very first Ironman triathlons when they were still held on the island of O'ahu and not in Kona where they are now. My uncle raced the Ironman and then gave me the bike.
I think it's in a box in my dad's attic. Although my dad has been cleaning out the house and throwing things away. He may have put it in the recycling bin...
Happy riding.
Friday, June 28, 2013
THE PICKS UPDATED!!!
Emailed Craig and he makes a controversial pick:
Chris Froome
Who's gonna be more upset if he's right? Us or Chris Froome himself?
This means Kevin's pick is:
Thibault Pinot
Also a very interesting pick. He's been far off the radar...
So the final picks:
1. Blaine - Rein Tarrame
2. Tom - Tejay Van Garderen
3. Dan - Richie Porte
4. Arnold - Alejandro Valverde
5. Manny - Dan Martin
6. Marc - Joaquim Rodriguez
7. Toby - Jurgen Van den Broeck
8. Derek - Alberto Contador
9. Dave - Cadel Evans
10. Craig - Chris Froome
11. Kevin -Thibault Pinot
This list will also be in a column on the left so you can refer to it easily on the blog.
BTW - talking smack or sharing your opinion is encouraged. Simply leave a comment on the blog post.
Happy riding.
Chris Froome
Who's gonna be more upset if he's right? Us or Chris Froome himself?
This means Kevin's pick is:
Thibault Pinot
Also a very interesting pick. He's been far off the radar...
So the final picks:
1. Blaine - Rein Tarrame
2. Tom - Tejay Van Garderen
3. Dan - Richie Porte
4. Arnold - Alejandro Valverde
5. Manny - Dan Martin
6. Marc - Joaquim Rodriguez
7. Toby - Jurgen Van den Broeck
8. Derek - Alberto Contador
9. Dave - Cadel Evans
10. Craig - Chris Froome
11. Kevin -Thibault Pinot
This list will also be in a column on the left so you can refer to it easily on the blog.
BTW - talking smack or sharing your opinion is encouraged. Simply leave a comment on the blog post.
Happy riding.
THE PICKS ARE IN! Almost...
Here's the official video of the draft order. Please note the choice of hat.
Here's how it all ironed out:
1. Blaine - Rein Tarrame
2. Tom - Tejay Van Garderen
3. Dan - Richie Porte
4. Arnold - Alejandro Valverde
5. Manny - Dan Martin
6. Marc - Joaquim Rodriguez
7. Toby - Jurgen Van den Broeck
8. Derek - Alberto Contador
9. Dave - Cadel Evans
10. Craig - ?????
11. Kevin - ????
Why doesn't Craig or Kevin have a pick? Because Craig's top 5 have already been picked. He can select one more, and then Kevin get's his pick. I'll be seeing Craig today and will get a pick from him and post this afternoon.
Looking at the list, it seems everyone except Derek got his first pick... Well Derek and Craig anyway. Kevin (Who slipped his list in at 10 minutes to midnight last night) still has 1st pick available. Derek had to take his second choice of Alberto Contador. Hopefully he doesn't do the same thing I did last year and end up on the bottom of the pile.
Less than 24 hours to the Porto-Vecchio!!!
Happy riding!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Official Start List
Here's a link to the PDF I created of the start list for this years Le Grande Boucle. You can download it here if you lost the email...
Start List Le Grand Boucle 2013
2 more days!!!
Happy riding.
Start List Le Grand Boucle 2013
2 more days!!!
Happy riding.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The List Are Coming In...
So far, I've got 7 list, not counting my own. Remember, you have until tomorrow at midnight (PDT) to change your mind on the order or who you have listed.
Here's the people and the lists I've received so far:
I'm sensing a pattern here. Seems most of us think TeeJay will perform very well this tour. My opinion? I think he may be forced to hold back early in the mountains to assist Cadel when the peloton thins down to the hard men. Only if Cadel cracks do I think he'll get the go from the team car, and then it might be too late to make up the time to get to third.
I also think Manny brings up a good point, not loosing time in the team time trial is going to be key. But to counter that point, perhaps the TTT isn't long enough this year to really make an insurmountable time deficit.
Finally, Cyclingnews has all the riders listed by team HERE. But not the official list with rider numbers, yet. It may be telling when we see who gets the #1's on their jerseys.
Happy riding.
Here's the people and the lists I've received so far:
Toby
1. Jurgen
Van den Broeck
2. Cadel
Evans
3. Joaquim
Rodriguez
4. Richie
Porte
5. Teejay
Van Garderen
Blaine
1. Rein
Tarrame
2. TeeJay
Van Garderen
3. Rui
Costa
4. Nibali
5. Richie
Porte
Dave
1. Cadel
Evans
2. Andy
Schleck
3. Chris
Froome
4. TeeJay
Van Garderen
5. Christian
Vande Velde
Tom
1. TeeJay
Van Garderen
2. Alberto
Contador
3. Ryder
Hesjedal
4. Joaquim
Rodriguez
5. Jurgen
Van Den Broeck
Derek
1. Teejay
Van Garderen
2. Alberto
Contador
3. Cadel
Evans
4. Alejandro
Valverde
5. Joaquim
Rodriguez
Arnold
1. Teejay
Van Garderen
2. Alejandro
Valverde
3. Joaquim
Rodriguez
4. Ryder
Hesjedal
5. Nairo
Quintana
Manny
1. Richie
Porte
2. Dan
Martin
3. Alejandro
Valverde
4. Cadel
Evans
5. Joaquim
Rodriguez
I also think Manny brings up a good point, not loosing time in the team time trial is going to be key. But to counter that point, perhaps the TTT isn't long enough this year to really make an insurmountable time deficit.
Finally, Cyclingnews has all the riders listed by team HERE. But not the official list with rider numbers, yet. It may be telling when we see who gets the #1's on their jerseys.
Happy riding.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Just The Facts Ma'am.
Manny sent me this. Thought it was good stuff.
Just some facts about this years tour:
Riders
198 riders at the start (22 teams of 9 riders)
300 support personnel
17 members on the stewards’ committee
2013 Route
3404 kilometers (2115 miles)
21 stages
36 stage towns
537 French municipalities crossed
37 French departments visited
Organization
100 permanent staff of A.S.O.
280 temporary staff
1450 beds reserved every day for the organizers and teams
Medical Service
10 emergency doctors, 1 anesthetics nurse
6 ambulances, 2 medical cars, 1 motorcycle, 1 X-ray truck
Security
47 police motorcyclists
13 police officers (permanent police for the Tour)
23,000 officers from the various police divisions mobilized
1,000 General Council agents
Media (2012 edition)
2,000 journalists, consultants, photographers
560 different media outlets covering the race
350 newspapers/magazines, press agencies or websites
85 TV channels, of which 60 broadcast live
75 photo agencies
50 radio stations
TV broadcasting
Broadcasts to 190 countries
Around 100 channels, 60 of them broadcasting live
New national stations broadcasting live: Estonia (ETV), Israel (Sport5), Kazakhstan (KAZsport)
New regional broadcaster (Middle East and North Africa): Aljazeera Sport (23 countries)
9 stages broadcast in full
86 hours of live footage (international signal)
Over 5,000 hours of programmes worldwide
3.5 billion viewers worldwide (2012)
Internet (2012 edition)
11.5 million unique visitors hits (in July)
133 million pages viewed (in July)
4 languages: French, German, Spanish, English (the most visited version)
925,000 fans on Facebook
150,000 followers on Twitter
800,000 apps on the Tour de France downloaded
Spectators lining the route (2012 edition)
12 million spectators
68% men and 32% women
53% under 50 years of age, of which 12% were under 25
80% French spectators and 20% foreign spectators
38 different nationalities counted
6 hrs 50 minutes of presence at the road-sire (6 hrs for flat stages, 8 hrs 50 minutes for mountain stages)
92% of people come with family or friends (in groups of 4 to 5 people on average)
Partners
44 partner brands including 4 new partners
4 Club Partners
9 Official Partners
6 Institutional and Environmental Partners
2 Media Partners
14 Official Suppliers
6 Technical Partners
7 Official Sponsors
Publicity Caravan
180 vehicles
37 brands
600 people
14.5 million gifts handed out
12 kilometers of precession
35 minutes of show-time
54 people involved in supervision including 13 police officers
Just some facts about this years tour:
Riders
198 riders at the start (22 teams of 9 riders)
300 support personnel
17 members on the stewards’ committee
2013 Route
3404 kilometers (2115 miles)
21 stages
36 stage towns
537 French municipalities crossed
37 French departments visited
Organization
100 permanent staff of A.S.O.
280 temporary staff
1450 beds reserved every day for the organizers and teams
Medical Service
10 emergency doctors, 1 anesthetics nurse
6 ambulances, 2 medical cars, 1 motorcycle, 1 X-ray truck
Security
47 police motorcyclists
13 police officers (permanent police for the Tour)
23,000 officers from the various police divisions mobilized
1,000 General Council agents
Media (2012 edition)
2,000 journalists, consultants, photographers
560 different media outlets covering the race
350 newspapers/magazines, press agencies or websites
85 TV channels, of which 60 broadcast live
75 photo agencies
50 radio stations
TV broadcasting
Broadcasts to 190 countries
Around 100 channels, 60 of them broadcasting live
New national stations broadcasting live: Estonia (ETV), Israel (Sport5), Kazakhstan (KAZsport)
New regional broadcaster (Middle East and North Africa): Aljazeera Sport (23 countries)
9 stages broadcast in full
86 hours of live footage (international signal)
Over 5,000 hours of programmes worldwide
3.5 billion viewers worldwide (2012)
Internet (2012 edition)
11.5 million unique visitors hits (in July)
133 million pages viewed (in July)
4 languages: French, German, Spanish, English (the most visited version)
925,000 fans on Facebook
150,000 followers on Twitter
800,000 apps on the Tour de France downloaded
Spectators lining the route (2012 edition)
12 million spectators
68% men and 32% women
53% under 50 years of age, of which 12% were under 25
80% French spectators and 20% foreign spectators
38 different nationalities counted
6 hrs 50 minutes of presence at the road-sire (6 hrs for flat stages, 8 hrs 50 minutes for mountain stages)
92% of people come with family or friends (in groups of 4 to 5 people on average)
Partners
44 partner brands including 4 new partners
4 Club Partners
9 Official Partners
6 Institutional and Environmental Partners
2 Media Partners
14 Official Suppliers
6 Technical Partners
7 Official Sponsors
Publicity Caravan
180 vehicles
37 brands
600 people
14.5 million gifts handed out
12 kilometers of precession
35 minutes of show-time
54 people involved in supervision including 13 police officers
Updated Team List
Here's link to Cyclingnews.com's current team line up. Still waiting on a few teams to post their riders, but you get a good picture of what's to come.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/100th-tour-de-france-start-list
2 people have submitted their top 5 lists to me.
Keep in mind, you have until the 27th to change your mind on your list.
Happy riding.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/100th-tour-de-france-start-list
2 people have submitted their top 5 lists to me.
Keep in mind, you have until the 27th to change your mind on your list.
Happy riding.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
I am now a contributor to Dan's Blog
Howdy Everyone. Toby here. I was kind of taken aback when Dan asked me to be contributor, but we will give it a go during this TdF and I hope I can write something that is good enough for everyone to at least find interesting. I am in Nice now with the band Muse, and thee are Tour de France posters and flags everywhere, as of course the CLM (Contre le Montre/Time Trial) Par Equipes (for teams) is here in Nice and I was able to cycle the course this morning Beautiful new asphalt. I love the Team Time Trial, and they have made it short enough this year so as not to have huge time differentials from the teams that will race well and ones that will not. Many a time there have also been wheels touching and the race can change for some teams and riders rather quickly.
Nice pictures Dan put on the blog site.......here is an easy trivia question I hope: Who was the last rider to step onto the top of the podium while also being the Road World Champion? ( hint: he traded the rainbow jersey for the Maillot Jaune on the last day of the tour). Answer next time I have something worth writing about.
Nice pictures Dan put on the blog site.......here is an easy trivia question I hope: Who was the last rider to step onto the top of the podium while also being the Road World Champion? ( hint: he traded the rainbow jersey for the Maillot Jaune on the last day of the tour). Answer next time I have something worth writing about.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Email that blog!
If you don't feel like visiting this site, and I'm understanding this widget I've added to the blog, you should be able to add your email to it. And like last year, every time I babble here, you'll get it in your inbox.
The link is on the left, currently above the results of last years pool.
That is all.
Happy riding.
The link is on the left, currently above the results of last years pool.
That is all.
Happy riding.
On The Other Side of the World...
Long before the hipsters made it cool to ride "fixies", this has been happening in Japan:
http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/3/8/574/keirin--speed-racers
Back in the 1991, my family and I took a trip to Minnesota to attend the wedding of one of my cousins. Since my dad is from there, it made sense to just turn it into a family trip. I was deep into my love affair with cycling, and while we were there, the Twin Cities were hosting an Olympic type of event where the country sent their best athletes by region (North, South, West, and East) to compete.
I found out that they had cycling events happening, so my mom and I went to watch. We stood on the side of the road and watched the team time trials go by, but more importantly, we spent a day at the velodrome.
It happened that on that day, they were holding 3 events; Match sprints, elimination and Keirin.
Holy crap.
There could not have been a better line up of events to introduce someone to the world of fixed gear velodrome racing.
Here's some pics I scanned:
The picture above is of one of the Keirin races. The basic rules of Keirin are 5 to 8 riders start out behind a motor pacer, as they complete laps, the motor pacer ups their speed until the bell rings for the final lap and then all hell breaks loose. First across the line wins.
This picture is of the elimination race. The basic rules of elimination are every lap (or in this case it was every other lap) a ride or two is eliminated off the back of the pack, until there's 5 riders and they sprint for the finish. This one was a lot of fun to watch. So much so, my mother was standing and cheering. Every other lap, there was mayhem at the back of the pack.
I don't have any pictures of the match sprints as this was the era of film, and I had filled up my roll of 24 pictures.
What does this have to do with the TdF this July?
Nothing.
But cycling is cycling. No matter how or where you pedal your two (and sometimes 3) wheels around, it's sport that's probably worth watching.
Happy riding.
http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/3/8/574/keirin--speed-racers
Back in the 1991, my family and I took a trip to Minnesota to attend the wedding of one of my cousins. Since my dad is from there, it made sense to just turn it into a family trip. I was deep into my love affair with cycling, and while we were there, the Twin Cities were hosting an Olympic type of event where the country sent their best athletes by region (North, South, West, and East) to compete.
I found out that they had cycling events happening, so my mom and I went to watch. We stood on the side of the road and watched the team time trials go by, but more importantly, we spent a day at the velodrome.
It happened that on that day, they were holding 3 events; Match sprints, elimination and Keirin.
Holy crap.
There could not have been a better line up of events to introduce someone to the world of fixed gear velodrome racing.
Here's some pics I scanned:
I don't have any pictures of the match sprints as this was the era of film, and I had filled up my roll of 24 pictures.
What does this have to do with the TdF this July?
Nothing.
But cycling is cycling. No matter how or where you pedal your two (and sometimes 3) wheels around, it's sport that's probably worth watching.
Happy riding.
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