Le Tour

[cegerer]

Anybody following it? Lance nearly went down big time today when Beloki crashed in front of him!! -- Curt

[JavaBrewer]

Kills me the lack of media coverage of the Tour. Listening to the radio this morning no mention - but 5 minutes of Kobe Bryant and latest baseball news.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Craziest sporting event in history, and it's buried behind US baseball? WTF? Who the hell cares about some undereducated dude swinging a stick?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/index.html

[JavaBrewer]

Beauty -

With some pain - broken right leg, right elbow and right wrist


The road where Beloki had become slick because of the summer heat. "It was dangerous," Armstrong said. "All the corners were melting. There was asphalt but it was bubbling."

[JavaBrewer]

Oh, and here's me on my bike - though I hate the helmet because it makes me hot and adds 1 extra pound that I have to lug up the mountains!

[911pcars]

They used to broadcast the Tour on ESPN in my area late at night. I looked forward to seeing the highlights of the day. Now it's only on OLN. Who in #*$@&! has that channel? Coverage on national networks is pithy.

Sherwood
So. Cal

David,
I see you're into retro bikes. Nice yellow though.

[cegerer]

Luckily, I've got OLN and the coverage is great! Tape delayed, but that puts it in prime time. Looks like Lance has got some competition this year .... at least in the early going. We'll see if anybody can hang with him thru the mountains .....

[turbo6bar]

I hope Lance destroys the competition. I wish there was more coverage. I only see snippets of info from Yahoo. Those guys are superhuman. I road like a madman today and barely broke 19 mph average speed over 23 miles. The guys in the Tour average 21 mph over the entire event. That's crazy fast. 18 mph average speed is not terribly hard, but when I hit 19 mph it gets a lot harder. Oh, well. It's my first year riding in 11 years, and I only have 1200 miles on my legs.

jurgen

[nostatic]

OLN is right next to Speed on DirectTV (channel 608 and 607 respectively), so it is very convenient.

Not just a broken leg for Beloki, but a broken *femur*. Ouch!.

OLN's coverage has been pretty complete, often with hours of live stuff in the early morning with a replay at night. And in fact last night the replay ended just in time to switch over to Speed to watch the '93 San Marino GP.

[dd74]

Well, in celebration of The Tour, I bought a new bike. A LeMond Zurich w/ full Utegra components. Compared to my Colnago, this thing is a peloton wrecker - very fast. And it's steel, too.

And about the tour: I agree with most here that it is a shame - an utter shame - that 'Merican sports can cover NASCAR car crashes, Kobe Bryant and the All Star festivities without hardly a mention of Le Tour aside from Lance Armstrong leading or not leading.

Let's see, Le Tour - 1) Fittest athletes on Earth; 2) Competitors whose bodily strength can snap machinery into pieces; 3) Men who ride 1,500 miles of road work some cars can't even travel. 4) Individuals who, in addition to Lance Armstrong, are simply legend.

Ask any dude on ESPN who Bernard Hinault is, and they'll probably say "hockey player?" Miguel Indurain: what are his achievements? "Helped Argentina win a World Cup?" No, he won The Tour five times - consecutively.

Basketball, baseball and football and watching Monte Carlos catch fire at Darlington: that and a frosty Bud is all we're about, right? Or all we should be about, right?

[nostatic]

bicycling is an odd sport. I remember when LeMond won the tour and some sports writer said, "what's the big deal...even I can ride a bike". While those that ride understand the idiocy of that comment, it does point towards some of the issues. Most american kids grown up playing a few competitive sports...some organized and some impromptu. Real bike racing however is way in the fringe, along with xc running, water polo, and a few others.

Stage racing is difficult to understand unless you know the sport, and the strategy is lost on most people. Likewise, most people can't appreciate Mayo's climbing skills exhibited yesterday, as he made it look so easy.

IT is along the lines of why US audiences like NASCAR, but don't watch F1, Rolex, etc. Stock cars aren't subtle...F1 strategy is. Kinda like football vs. baseball (although everyone understand a home run and a fiery crash).

[cegerer]

Well, the Tour is one thing, but have you been tuning in to the "Running of the Bulls" immediately afterward???? This is the most bizarre TV coverage I've ever seen. I mean, everyone's heard of the Running of the Bulls, but OLN is televising it like it is a serious sporting event. It's like something right off of Sat. Night Live!!!!!!!

"Well Bill, it's been a quiet day today - only 8 gorings! It's simply unprecedented!! Remember 1984 when we had 15 gorings on opening day?? Those were the classic years weren't they Bill ....... "

[911pcars]

I don't think too many TV consumers relate to averaging 31 mph for 114 miles. The pros also crank up to 45mph on the final sprint to the finish line; this is after doing 100+ miles. That's, in my book, superhuman. On the other hand, my wife and most civilians think bike clothing is... well... geeky.

turbo6bar,
Averaging 19mph over 23 miles isn't too shabby either. From my reference point, that's pretty good. My fastest speed on the flats was 35mph in the middle of a giant peloton on one of those 5 chile pepper-rated rides. Didn't last long though as I got dropped very quickly.

Pro cyclists (the ones not on drugs) are my heros,
Sherwood

[nostatic]

I crashed doing about 33 mph in the pack at the Rose Bowl back in '92. That was back in the day when I trained and could do all 10 laps on tuesday/thursday at the bowl and finish with the pack.

Sadly one of my favorite parts of riding was climbing. I wasn't the greatest (too big), but there was something about the constant suffering that was rewarding...especially when you drop somebody on your wheel. I can remember having informal races up to Chantry Flats (for you SoCal types).

I gotta find a new road frame...

[dd74]

nostatic: LeMond Zurich frame ain't bad.

Just climbed Barham Boulevard with not too much effort. Something in the gearing and stiffness. It saw the hill and responded.

I looked at all the traditional Italian frames: Colnago, Pinarello, Coppi, Mercyx, etc., etc. CA-made bikes as well: Steelman, Marin, Soma, Calfee. Even checked into the Ti and Carbon: Kestral, Dean, Seven, Moots, Independent, Look, Time, etc., etc.

Did you know there's a bike made in Alabama called "Sofa King?" Hilarious name! But looks damn fast!

I tested a Giant carbon - that thing would rattle me apart. Also a Crevelo (sp?) - Canadian bike. Aluminum and Carbon mix - it road like a skateboard.

As is, I came to the conclusion that if you're not riding more than twice a week, why bother dropping $3 to 5K? Reynolds steel works just as well.

LeMond weighs in at 18 pounds anyway. Ti is a pound less. I also put on a pair of super cool Speedplay pedals. They're as trick as an MFI 2.7...well, maybe not as trick, but it's getting there.

Anyway, I'm back to steel and it's fun, fun, fun...

[nostatic]

I cheaped out on a Rodriguez and Medici on Ebay over the last few weeks...should have bid up the Medici..went for $165.

Seems like decent steel frames make the rounds there pretty frequently, the only trick is finding a 61-62cm.

[dd74]

Originally posted by dmoolenaar

Maybe he's not going to make today's stage, huh?

Didja' guys hear about Tyler Hamilton - the American racer who rode for Armstrong's last year?

He's with a different team now. But anyway, he fractured his collar bone in The Tour's first crash on the second stage, but continues in the race.

It's said his pain has caused him to either grind or crack all the teeth in his mouth.

[dd74]

Originally posted by nostatic
I cheaped out on a Rodriguez and Medici on Ebay over the last few weeks...should have bid up the Medici..went for $165.

Seems like decent steel frames make the rounds there pretty frequently, the only trick is finding a 61-62cm.

I'll dig up my links and shoot 'em to you. There were many sizes of used frames for sale on the classified bike sections I saw.

Medici frames, BTW, are super sweet. Didn't they used to have a factory in downtown LA? I heard you could go down, get measured, and they'd weld one up for you on the spot...

[Eric Coffey]

Originally posted by nostatic
I gotta find a new road frame...

Not too much of a road-bike guy (mtn. bike junkie from way back), buy I've owned/ridden a few here and there. The one that stood out the most was an old school (pre-Trek) Klein Quantum Pro (aluminum). It was a trade-in at the bike shop I've bought all my bikes from, and the owner was cool enough to let me have it for a weekend. The PO had upgraded it with carbon wheels, and all sorts of other goodies. It was incredibly light, and the handling/feedback was amazing. It felt as if 100% of your energy was being transmitted to the ground. I was tempted to buy it, but didn't have an extra $5k at the time (which was probably a good deal).

[dd74]

Yeah, but they always go down in price around summer, when they get the next year's model in. I saw a Klein just like you described with carbon seat stays and fork, full Shimano Dura Ace (I think) gruppo, going for $2K.