New to cycling

[ratter]

Yes lack of sleep is an issue at the momment

[blueoval]

I concur with all you have said TZENU. although Id like to add that I am very impressed with Peter Sagan. On debut of the tour and 3 stage wins for a 22yo is dam impressive. The Cav although a champion just doesnt seem to be quite on the mark this year and I am not sure if that has something to do with the recent crashes or not.

I was banking on Ryder Hesjedal to be the dark horse but his recent fall he cooked that idea.

Wiggins is a gun and man possessed at the moment. It will take someone from BMC, either VanGarderen or Hincapie to help Cadel out like Sky are doing for Wiggins. otherwise it could blow out to an almost impossible catch up.

I hope Cadel can just rip Wiggins a new one on the Pyrennes.

Sleep??? hahahaha what's that?

[TZENU]

Originally Posted by blueoval

I concur with all you have said TZENU. although Id like to add that I am very impressed with Peter Sagan. On debut of the tour and 3 stage wins for a 22yo is dam impressive. The Cav although a champion just doesnt seem to be quite on the mark this year and I am not sure if that has something to do with the recent crashes or not.

I was banking on Ryder Hesjedal to be the dark horse but his recent fall he cooked that idea.

Wiggins is a gun and man possessed at the moment. It will take someone from BMC, either VanGarderen or Hincapie to help Cadel out like Sky are doing for Wiggins. otherwise it could blow out to an almost impossible catch up.

I hope Cadel can just rip Wiggins a new one on the Pyrennes.

Sleep??? hahahaha what's that?

Good call... I'd say the Cav hasn't got the lead out team he once had so has found himself having to do alot of the work on his own.. - But he was always going to focus on the Olympic games as he had previously said.... And agree that Sagan has been on a roll !!!, he has the ability to climb better than the rest of the sprinters which will certainly work to his advantage as we head into the mountains

Hesjedal was also said to have the outsider chance especially after winning the Giro d'italia , but unfortunately his crash put an end to that!!

Hopefully Hincapie has enough in the tank to help CE along... I wonder who is going to be the first team to attack team Sky??? Or maybe Fromme and Wiggins go on the attack with the aim of hurting Cadel? Whatever the scenario, it's definately going to be an exciting several stages!

[HLC]

I think Team BMC missed the memo where they have to help out their team leader in the hills....

Anyway, I've been quick to write off Cadel already as well... But how will Wiggins go without his bum buddies?? Have they gone too hard early on?? Is Cadel just foxing and saving himself?

In regards to Cav, his focus is the Olympics, and the teams Focus is Wiggins. At the Giro, Cav had his full sprint lead out train, and at TDF nothing, but in saying that, he can still win a sprint without.. I don't think he is out of form at all, and he will be a big threat at the Olympics.

Anyway, check out this graphic. Evans was about the same time down this time last year and chipped away at Voeckler's lead while the others faded. And Tommy was in good form last year.

We will see what happens.

[HLC]

Oh, and if Cadel and Vincenzo Nibali put their heads together, they really could eat into Wiggins' lead. Both are better climbers and descenders than Wiggins, so if they had a gentlemens agreement in the high mountains, it could be very advantageous for them!

Let's hope for some bad weather too. That will hurt wiggins as well.. He's hopeless at descending already, so throw in some bad wet technical descents and he'll be way off his game.

[blueoval]

You make good points Henri. CE and Nibali are superior climbers and descenders compared to Wiggins, and this week in the Pyrennes will test Wiggins abilities. Although what advantage CE can do on the hills Wiggins can do in the Time Trial and make up. So its gonna have to be a monumental effort from CE in the hills to make up the gap and still grab a buffer from Wiggins. Its gonna be an interesting week this week no doubt.

[sgt_doofey]

Hey Shav, you going to do next year's TDU ride? Modbury to Tanunda? 127kms?
Early Bird registrations close tomorrow.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Hey Shav, you going to do next year's TDU ride? Modbury to Tanunda? 127kms?
Early Bird registrations close tomorrow.

Still trying to work out a group at this point mate. If I miss out on early bird registrations so be it. But I'd like to do it and get some of the groups I ride with to join as well. Will mean a stupidly early time to get up and be there though since I am a southerner.

[sgt_doofey]

For once, I won't have to get up at a stupid time to get there
I'll be staying at my Mum's house and can ride the short 5kms (downhill) to the start line!

[TZENU]

Im paying for staying up and watching stage 11.. This was going to either make Cadel or break him and unfortunately it was the latter.... At the moment he took off during the second climb of the day, I knew this was is it; all or nothing.... The teams idea was to get Cadel to bridge the gap b/w the group and TJ and to suck wheel while he recovered , but it began to be clear Cadel could not keep the pace of TJ and soon enough was back in amongst the Sky riders.

I think I woke my neighbours (with a lot of loud swearing) as they approached the finish and Cadel could just not give anymore (I know that feeling when you are so close to the finish and you hit the wall!).. The poor bastard was spent and Wiggins, Nibali, Van der Broeck began to power away from him (Kudos to TJ for sticking by his team leader)...
I think in the end Wiggins gained another minute on CE which knocked him out of the top 3....

Sky is really a solid team and in the mountains they really stood out from the crowd... To be able to drag Wiggins to the finish was nothing short of amazing, not to mention the attacks they suffered and survived from CE, Van Der Broeck and especially Nibali... It really was one of the best battles i've seen this year!!! (Very exciting to watch)
Big shout out to the Aussie boys (Porte and Rogers) who helped Wiggins to the line especially Michael Rogers who didn't panic when Cadel went on the attack and slowly clawed him back

Another team that continues to perform well in the mountains (as per last years TdF) was Team Europcar.. Rolland did unbelievably well especially being able to recover after comming off whilst he was following an Astana (?) riders (Venkourov?) line... Tommy Voeckler never ceases to amaze me; he really is an allrounder...

[blueoval]

Well said. nothing to add really other than gutted for cadel and perhaps this might reduce the pressure on him to perform. in all seriousness he should have attacked in stage 10 but I could tell something was wrong but wasn't sure what. I was also impressed with TJ and froome is a freak. Both those guys were stronger than their team leaders and it showed. cadel has his work cut out for him to stick on the podium in Paris. tonight will also be a cracker. this lack of sleep business is killing me though. another week of this then 5 days break before the Olympics.

[ratter]

The Sky train looks like something from a terminator type movie, others run from it and it just keeps marching on and on and reels all in as required with out any sign of panic or urgency

[Whitey-AMG]

This race is killing me.....I've watched almost every stage live and only a handful the next morning ( recorded )

Watching cadel last night attempting the breakaway had me biting my nails off.
I was so wound up I reckon I was pedaling in my sleep last night .....

Stunning scenery....best racing I've seen in years and some mega spills so far....
Is road race pro cycling the best sport on earth or what ?

Am popping in to my local bike shop tomorrow to get my bar re taped......really looking forward to jumping on the GIANT and going for a spin again in the next couple of days. Go CADEL....

[blueoval]

Wiggins was slightly burnt with a flare from running spectator 25km from finish. Also getting more annoyed with questions of him doping and froome being more in form than him. cancellara out of race due to wife 2nd child birth.

[HLC]

Why wiggins won stage 11....

[blueoval]

Nice one Henri. Just goes to show what kind of team SKY is. Did Cadel have the same amount of support with his team over those Col's?

[HLC]

Col de la croix is the climb that Cadel attacked on!

We all know how the stage went.

[TZENU]

^^^^^ Just proves that Sky has done an extremely good job at surrounding Wiggins with a well rounded group of cyclists and even a potential GC winner in Fromme.

Respect to Wiggins for this morning's ride... There is nothing saying that he couldn't keep on going and build up a bigger lead. I know its a different situation to the Contador / Schleck controversey from the 2010 tour, but nonetheless thumbs up to Wiggo.

[blueoval]

Agreed. Wiggo and co made the right choice to wait for BMC and others for the thumb tack controversy last night. At first I thought Cadel was a goner having a flat and waiting for the support car up that skinny road. But after 20-30 riders all experienced punctures I knew it wasnt coincidence.

Those that place riders in danger like that deserve to be punished. It's a low and cowardly act.

[ratter]

What goes through some people minds to do stuff like that??
It's bad enough on some of the roads around here that cyclist use, but to do it in an international event???




How good is Sagan, future GC winner with the right team around him, how was the looks on some of the hill climbers faces as a sprinter goes past them on a 18% gradient

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by ratter

What goes through some people minds to do stuff like that??
It's bad enough on some of the roads around here that cyclist use, but to do it in an international event???




How good is Sagan, future GC winner with the right team around him, how was the looks on some of the hill climbers faces as a sprinter goes past them on a 18% gradient

totally agree ratter. He is truly a genuine future contender for the GC.

[Captain Stubing]

Well its been 5 weeks today since I came off my bike, smashing my hip, shoulder and helmet into the bitumen.

The physio has been great, and allowed me to start cycling on a wind trainer, starting from 3 minute sessions, and building up from there. I've got to say, it's not the same as going for a ride!

Today I got permission to increase my session to 15 mins... on the wind trainer. The reasoning behind this is that if I fell off onto my healing shoulder, I would do more harm than good.

My solution... don't fall off!

Taking advantage of the Tour de France sales going on... I scored!





I bought this carbon fibre a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't able to test ride it, and took it for a ride for the first time this arvo! Woohoo! First ride I've had in 5 weeks, and geez my lungs were stinging!

I only went for a 10km ride, I have to get used to the new shift mechanism, and learning a new riding position (after a flat-bar) but I wish I'd gone for the road bike to start with.

The new ride is an Avanti Cadent with Tiagra components, full carbon frame and forks.

I'm looking forward to getting back into riding, after too many weeks away!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by swanny

Well its been 5 weeks today since I came off my bike, smashing my hip, shoulder and helmet into the bitumen.

The physio has been great, and allowed me to start cycling on a wind trainer, starting from 3 minute sessions, and building up from there. I've got to say, it's not the same as going for a ride!

Today I got permission to increase my session to 15 mins... on the wind trainer. The reasoning behind this is that if I fell off onto my healing shoulder, I would do more harm than good.

My solution... don't fall off!

Taking advantage of the Tour de France sales going on... I scored!

image

image

I bought this carbon fibre a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't able to test ride it, and took it for a ride for the first time this arvo! Woohoo! First ride I've had in 5 weeks, and geez my lungs were stinging!

I only went for a 10km ride, I have to get used to the new shift mechanism, and learning a new riding position (after a flat-bar) but I wish I'd gone for the road bike to start with.

The new ride is an Avanti Cadent with Tiagra components, full carbon frame and forks.

I'm looking forward to getting back into riding, after too many weeks away!

Good to hear your recovering well swanny.

Nice pick up with the bike too. Looks great. The Avanti's are a strong steed. It took me a few rides to get used to the STI shifters too after coming off the flat bar, but you'll pick it up in no time mate. It's well worth it and your riding style will adapt too. Do you have compact cranks or full cranks?

[Captain Stubing]

Thanks Shav! The crankset is compact - 50/34.

[blueoval]

cool. good for climbing. Well done. Im still running full cranks up hills. 53/39. Makes for interesting times, but getting used to it.

[HLC]

Originally Posted by blueoval

cool. good for climbing. Well done. Im still running full cranks up hills. 53/39. Makes for interesting times, but getting used to it.

39/23 is my smallest ratio on my 9.3kg Steel bike!!! You don't know what pain is ha ha!

Although I shamed quite a few carbon warriors up some Category 3's last weekend! (about the biggest hills you get in Perth ha ha) so that felt pretty good. Dropping a few more on the flat heading back to town was then better again. Steel is Real.

Need to work on my descending though, maxed out at 74.6km/h :( So either need a couple more kg's to make use of gravity, or work on my aero position, which I thought was pretty good, given my 'pro fit' (short top tube, heaps of seat post, low stem).

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by HLC

39/23 is my smallest ratio on my 9.3kg Steel bike!!! You don't know what pain is ha ha!

Although I shamed quite a few carbon warriors up some Category 3's last weekend! (about the biggest hills you get in Perth ha ha) so that felt pretty good. Dropping a few more on the flat heading back to town was then better again. Steel is Real.

Need to work on my descending though, maxed out at 74.6km/h :( So either need a couple more kg's to make use of gravity, or work on my aero position, which I thought was pretty good, given my 'pro fit' (short top tube, heaps of seat post, low stem).

Wouldnt that make it easier to climb with Henri?

[ratter]

23 is not a good hill gear, most bikes have a 25 has their big gear or a 27, a compact crank would even be better with it's 34 tooth small chain wheel

[blueoval]

Oh so the 23 represents the rear ring as his bike is a fixie? Oh I though he had a double crank with multiple gears on the rear cassette. That explains it a bit better. Thanks ratter.

On the back I think I have 11-27 so yeah the lower the number the harder you have to push. Great training regardless.

[HLC]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Oh so the 23 represents the rear ring as his bike is a fixie? Oh I though he had a double crank with multiple gears on the rear cassette. That explains it a bit better. Thanks ratter.

On the back I think I have 11-27 so yeah the lower the number the harder you have to push. Great training regardless.

Nah that's on my road bike Shav! Wouldn't dream of tackling hills on my fixed gear (49/16).. Have done a couple of those hills on the track bike in the past, never again.

My road bike though, 53/39 Chainrings, 12-23 Cassette on the rear! Ha ha

39/23 is pathetic for climbing. Thankfully I am track cycling Adonis and my oversized sized thighs can get me over the steepest that Perth has to offer lol (only just though ha ha!)