OT: Anyone else watching Le Tour de France?

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 12:30 pm

I'm guessing that Hiro is watching. I am. Anyone else?

GO LANCE, GO!!!!

.

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 1:11 pm

Trying to follow it. Does any TV Channel show it? I mostly get the results the next morning in the paper.

Chuck_Clark · Post by **Chuck_Clark** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 1:12 pm

I surely am. Outdoor Life Channel carries all stages and repeats them in the afternoon. Between the two showings daily, I anticipate not missing a single stage.

MacEachain · Post by **MacEachain** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 1:50 pm

Hi Folks,
I'll be watching when possible, I'm curious about Jan Ullrich's form though, not much being said, a dark horse perhaps? I suspect that if someone does beat Armstrong it'll be one of the newer generation though.

Cheers, Mac

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 2:03 pm

I like those bikes with engines mounted on a lot better

.
No I'm not really the lacy type (not that much at least). I really enjoy adventure racing such as Echo Challange and stuff.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 2:32 pm

Tour de LANCE!! Tour de LANCE!!!!! Get it right man

I don't get to watch it on TV, but I'm reading the paper every day. Scary bit about the stage 1 crash, that could have been a catastrophe.

Loren

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:16 pm

pthouron wrote: Trying to follow it. Does any TV Channel show it? I mostly get the results the next morning in the paper.

In North America the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) has a monopoly on showing the tour. We had to upgrade our Dish Network package to get the channel, but oh well.....

If you go to Bicycling Magazine's site you can get the latest news online:

http://www.bicycling.com/tourdefrance

Amazingly, all but 2 of the riders involved in the crash were back racing today. Some were racing with broken bones, many with serious road-rash. Sometimes these guys seem super human.....

I'd like to see Jan Ullrich at least take a stage win. He deserves it!

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:29 pm

Amazing sport. You know it might have been
transformed by recumbents, but they
have been banned from races. Best

Hiro Ringo · Post by **Hiro Ringo** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:36 pm

But sad thing is that most of my favorite riders have retired. Life is very short in this sport.

I am interested in whether Lance will become 5 times champion like Indurain, how close Beloki can get to Lance and what's going on the son of Merckx!!

MacEachain · Post by **MacEachain** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:52 pm

jim stone wrote:Amazing sport. You know it might have been
transformed by recumbents, but they
have been banned from races. Best

A recumbant on the Col du Galibier, that I'd like to see

Cheers, Mac

Aodhan · Post by **Aodhan** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 5:01 pm

MacEachain wrote:
jim stone wrote:Amazing sport. You know it might have been
transformed by recumbents, but they
have been banned from races. Best
A recumbant on the Col du Galibier, that I'd like to see

Cheers, Mac

Heh...can you imagine watching a recumbent try to lean into a turn at 60+ mph coming down the backside? Or how about in the mud and muck of Paris-Roubaix?

I saw the crash on OLN's show...scary. The first guy just lost a toe clip, went down, slid..(OW! I've been there doing triathlons), kind of came to a sitting position, then the next cyclist plowed into his ribcage.

owie.

How about Tyler Hamilton though? Still sitting, what, 8th? And racing with a broken collarbone. THAT has got to be painful.

Aodhan

Tres · Post by **Tres** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 5:15 pm

I would watch if I could-- but it is only on the Outdoor Life Channel, which I do not get. Grrr!!!

Tres

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 7:55 pm

I don't know these places you're mentioning,
but I don't know why a recumbent couldn't
do all that as well or better. Lower center
of gravity helps in cornering,
and they should handle rough terrain
and mud at least as well if not better than
a trad racing bike. Also they can
deal with somewhat thicker tires.
Also I suppose they would
be safer. Less distance to fall
and less likely to go head first.

As I understand it, the reason they've been
banned from races is that they're
faster than the traditional bikes.
The riders can push harder on the
pedals by bracing on the seat;
also they're more aerodynamic. So you can't have mixed races
with em both; once they're in the
races everybody must ride them to be competitive
and so bike racing is transformed
in a way people didn't want it
to be. Best

merlinthedog · Post by **merlinthedog** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 8:04 pm

Haven't seen anybody with a bike and whistle yet.

EricWingler · Post by **EricWingler** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 7:34 am

jim stone wrote:I don't know these places you're mentioning,
but I don't know why a recumbent couldn't
do all that as well or better.

I've never ridden a recumbent, but it is my impression from what I have read in bicycling magazines that recumbents are harder to ride up hills. Perhaps this is because you can't stand on the pedals the way you can with a traditional bike.