Did you catch the shot in the first week after the climb the second place rider had unzipped his jersey and was attempting to zip it up while he was going down hill? Guy is screaming down the hill, sitting up, both hands at the bottom of his jersey trying to get the zipper up. It's one of those "oh man, this could end so bad" moments.
yeah...and sometimes they do these crazy speeds and jersey zipping IN THE RAIN!!! i have to admit, if there is any hint of moisture in the air, i simply will not ride, and i am a little afraid to ride no-handed.
anyone see the 'water boy' tuck like 7-8 bottles of water (about 20 pounds of extra weight) in his jersey. then, ride to the head of the pack and distribute the water bottles to his team mates? that is awesome!
A good few years back about 10 of us would do a ton of cycling tours for charity. Very casual cyclists that would do good distances with an emphasis on stopping for a pub meal as part of the route. Was a very social thing with an emphasis on touring rather than racing.
Anyways one time we were doing a maracycle thingy as it was known in Ireland. Belfast-Dublin (overnight in Dublin where everyone partied to the early hours) and back the next day. 160km each way.
On the return I was basically coming into the final km a slight downhill and just approaching the area that was barricaded off from the crowds when I noticed 2 marshalls waving frantically at something.
Before I know it a woman pulls out of a side road straight in front of me, no time to even consider hitting the brake and I hit her straight on by her front wheels and go airbourne over the hood. Probably about a couple hundred witnesses.
I'm lying on the road on the other side and just as I've gathered my senses and am about to get up 2 St John's folks are on top of me telling me to stay down. After about 5 minutes they finally let me up and I refuse to go to hospital. The woman meanwhile is screaming hysterically.
I get the bike together and take the front wheel off which is basically bent in two like a sandwich and walk the last km with St John's person feeling like a complete idiot with the crowd clapping.
Fast forward about 6 months and the BBC releases a documentary on the whole event. Whatd'ya know but towards the end of the programme when they're showing the end of the event they show a zoom up of me walking along with St Johns chap wheeling the bike in one hand and carrying the wheel in the other with the commentary "and this poor unfortunate chap hit a pothole a mile from the finish."
So ever since that day I've been known as pothole Bagor to a select group of friends.
on the ride home, i got a flat. rode over something...felt the bump, heard the POP.
while changing the tube, i inspected the tire. i blew a hole clean through the tire as well. must have ran over a nail or something. could not find it. it was the rear tire, too. what sucks is, it was a really expensive tire. Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX (320 TPI), about $65.
had to patch the hole in the tire with a stick on. replace the tube and rode home on about 50 psi. normally, i run it at about 120 psi.
watching to the tour now.
Edit: here is photo of damaged tube and tire
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Last edited by awildermode; 07-21-2009 at 07:21 PM.
and back to your tire, isn't it ridiculous how exepensive tiny bike tires are? American dollar bills are great for patching sidewall holes like the one above, too. Very tough material.
I'm a novice at cycling so this maybe an totally incorrect observation. I watched a bit today and I felt sad that Lance came back to the Tour just to be a wingman. I thought he came back to win or else what's the point. His whole job today was to hold back Wiggins cause he's a good time-trial guy and let Schleck brothers and Contedor go to ensure Contedor wins the Tour.
Good teammate but I don't want to see the Return of Lance to simply be a teammate, I want him to go for it.
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Last edited by GirlySports; 07-22-2009 at 02:00 PM.
I don't know too much cycling, but is Armstrong not challenging Contador and letting him have the lead?
From TSN's article a few days back about the 15th stage:
Armstrong vowed that he would not go against the interests of the team by attacking Contador later in the race. ...
"Hey, (if) we ride into Paris with the yellow jersey on the team, I'm cool with that," Armstrong said. "I got seven of 'em at home."
I'm a novice at cycling so this maybe an totally incorrect observation. I watched a bit today and I felt sad that Lance came back to the Tour just to be a wingman. I thought he came back to win or else what's the point. His whole job today was to hold back Wiggins cause he's a good time-trial guy and let Schleck brothers and Contedor go to ensure Contedor wins the Tour.
Good teammate but I don't want to see the Return of Lance to simply be a teammate, I want him to go for it.
he was going for it, but Contador has an almost insurmountable lead, Lance's job has changed to protect his teammate, who's in a better position to win right now.
and how many "wingmen" can challenge for the podium in the Tour?
and back to your tire, isn't it ridiculous how exepensive tiny bike tires are? American dollar bills are great for patching sidewall holes like the one above, too. Very tough material.
not the side wall, dead center. when i patched the back and inflated it, it flapped out like a finger nail. thanks for the tip, but i usually do not care cash.
thinking about riding my single speed bike for the commute. that one has $10 tires
I'm a novice at cycling so this maybe an totally incorrect observation. I watched a bit today and I felt sad that Lance came back to the Tour just to be a wingman. I thought he came back to win or else what's the point. His whole job today was to hold back Wiggins cause he's a good time-trial guy and let Schleck brothers and Contedor go to ensure Contedor wins the Tour.
Good teammate but I don't want to see the Return of Lance to simply be a teammate, I want him to go for it.
At the start of the Tour there was no determined team leader so to speak.
As things stand now Contedor has been the superior climber (where the race is won) so far in the tour and is in yellow. The team game is all about protecting the yellow.
I haven't seen the stage yet but how did Armstrong hold back Wiggins? I'm guessing here but Armstrong being the better climber might have benefitted Wiggins in getting a bit of a pull up the hill.
You've got to remember that Armstrong is 37. Also he's promoting his Cancer charity. Just because he's won it 7 times doesn't mean he can't lose it with a lot of positives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kdogg
I don't know too much cycling, but is Armstrong not challenging Contador and letting him have the lead?
Contador blew away Armstrong and the field on that climb as opposed to Armstrong letting him have it.
I still think this thing is far from over.
For anyone that's never watched it before, do not miss Saturday's stage.
At the start of the Tour there was no determined team leader so to speak.
As things stand now Contedor has been the superior climber (where the race is won) so far in the tour and is in yellow. The team game is all about protecting the yellow.
I haven't seen the stage yet but how did Armstrong hold back Wiggins? I'm guessing here but Armstrong being the better climber might have benefitted Wiggins in getting a bit of a pull up the hill.
You've got to remember that Armstrong is 37. Also he's promoting his Cancer charity. Just because he's won it 7 times doesn't mean he can't lose it with a lot of positives.
Contador blew away Armstrong and the field on that climb as opposed to Armstrong letting him have it.
I still think this thing is far from over.
For anyone that's never watched it before, do not miss Saturday's stage.
I don't think Saturday's stage will decide much. Today's was much tougher with 5 category 1 climbs.
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I don't want to dictate the flow of a thread and this is just a suggestion.
Maybe we could throw a spoiler at the top and post in white during the day up until .. say .. 2300MT on the day of the stage or watever time OLN finishes MT?
Just a suggestion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GirlySports
I don't think Saturday's stage will decide much. Today's was much tougher with 5 category 1 climbs.
Trust me, Saturday's is the hardest climb of the tour. One mega climb with no respite.
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Last edited by Bagor; 07-22-2009 at 03:04 PM.
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I don't want to dictate the flow of a thread and this is just a suggestion.
Maybe we could throw a spoiler at the top and post in white during the day up until .. say .. 2300MT on the day of the stage or watever time OLN finishes MT?
Just a suggestion.
No. Assume everything is a spoiler. If you don't want to know the result, don't click on the thread. I've recorded stuff for many many years and sometimes watch things 2-3 days afterwards and avoid the result. It's just simple self-control.
There have been days I have avoided this thread in order to watch the OLN replay at 6pm. I just happened to be up early today and saw it live.
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