quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
I saw the tour in 2005. Those speeds are no joke. Two years ago I crashed doing about 20mph, causing road rash and my pinkie to point the wrong way. Yesterday, I finished a 3-day, 290 mile ride down the coast, with dozens of downhill stretches of 35-48mph. The pucker factor is real.
...

In 1985 or so, while active duty in the Marines at El Toro, a group of us did the Rosarito Beach to Ensenada 50 mile bike ride. It is not a “race”, but is crazy with a massive pack of riders starting all at the same time and then stretching out as the miles pass.

About 2/3rds of the way through the course you have gained 300 meters elevation after leaving the coast and heading inland into the hills. LOTS of the “casual riders” (myself included) end up dismounting and walking the bike up some of the steeper inclines. From that point though, you descend about 180 meters over a 3.5 km distance, which is a pretty good downhill.

I hit about 35-40mph going down, and about halfway down went past a guy that had crashed. Dude was literally covered head to toe in gauze and bandages. Made me think twice about that speed on a bicycle. Haven’t gone that fast on a bicycle since. I hit the binders at 25.

Never thought twice about 100+ on a motorcycle (with appropriate gear) but just shorts, t-shirt, and plastic helmet using pedal power and road rash hurts.

Maybe regulate them with smaller bikes for safety;

When stationed in Italy at Aviano, we used to haul our bikes up the Dolomites near Piancavallo and then coast back downhill to town. The speeds were terrifying and bike brakes were nearly useless. A couple of buddies ended up seriously injured. No one wore helmets then. No speedometers in use but I estimated our speeds at 50 MPH. I am a motorcyclist and the speeds scared the crap out of me and made me think they were way beyond what the bikes were designed for. Just a couple of trips was enough for me.

I am enjoying watching the coverage. Even if you are not a cyclist, the helicopter views of the French countryside are beautiful. Peacock Channel has a 5 minute and a 25 minute daily summary.

Fastest on a bike? In the 8th grade I went on a church youth group 3 day bike trip. The youth pastor volunteered to drive the Ford Econoline Van down a mountain with 2 of us drafting, 1 foot off the rear bumper. We hit 55mph! I don't think that Pastor Gossett would do that today!

I was happy to see Cavindish win another stage. He is nearing the end of his career and it was cool to see him overcome with emotion!!!!

I also love to see the country side. Its a very relaxing sport to watch punctuated by chaos.

The Doctor was wrong to liken it to a war zone but Imagine that it was pretty chaotic!!!

Have they executed her yet, or are we still in the torture phase? I would imagine that by now, all members of her immediate family have been tracked down and killed or imprisoned. After all, we're talking about a bicycle race.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
When looking at the replay of the crash, the guy that hit the sign appears to be looking right at it and went on into the sign and did nothing to avoid it.

When you're riding you tend to go where your eyes are pointed. Thus, if you're trying to dodge an obstruction or hole, you want to look at where you want to go, not at where you don't want to go.

You wouldn't believe how many years I rode, hitting holes I meant to avoid, or just narrowly missing them, before figuring that one out

The problem is: If something suddenly pops-up or you suddenly see it, you tend to focus on it--if only briefly. So...

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
I was happy to see Cavindish win another stage. He is nearing the end of his career and it was cool to see him overcome with emotion!!!!

I also love to see the country side. Its a very relaxing sport to watch punctuated by chaos.

The Doctor was wrong to liken it to a war zone but Imagine that it was pretty chaotic!!!

Haven't been keeping up with it & only recognize a name or 2 in the top of the GC.

How's Sagan doing?

Sagan is struggling. Ninth in the points battle after stage 8, and seemingly not able to keep up on the sprints. I suspect he'll try a solo attack on one of the rolling stages to pick up a stage win, but I don't think he's a threat for any jerseys.

Pogacar, on the other hand, put the GC away today as long as he stays upright on the descents. He is so much stronger than everyone else, nothing but a crash or illness can derail him. Dude's a beast.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Have they executed her yet, or are we still in the torture phase? I would imagine that by now, all members of her immediate family have been tracked down and killed or imprisoned. After all, we're talking about a bicycle race.

She's been fined, and that'll be the extent of her punishment as far as the French government is concerned. It was a relatively hefty fine, I think perhaps as much as 1,500 euros, but that is not undeserved. Whether she faces civil suits with the tour organizers, the cycling union, or individual cyclists is a separate matter.

She was never going to face prison time. That's absurd. Though French law would've allowed for it for whatever infraction she was charged with, it was always media hyperbole. The woman is absolutely ashamed of herself for what she did and very contrite (according to my wife and local French media), and rightfully so, but it was clearly just a monumentally idiotic and reckless thing to do with no malice. So she'll get her hefty fine, and that should be the end of it. You'll likely also never know her name or see her face (besides from the incident photos) as France to the extent that they can do not allow that.

And yeah, it's a bike race, but one with millions of dollars at hand. These are also people's livelihoods she could've easily ended by stepping in front of a charging peloton like that. One rider broke both his elbows in that crash. You train a whole year for the biggest race of the year, and then you're out before the race even really gets going. Furthermore, you now face months of recovery before you can get on a bike again. This is huge business, whether people think bike racing is silly or not.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
When looking at the replay of the crash, the guy that hit the sign appears to be looking right at it and went on into the sign and did nothing to avoid it.

When you're riding you tend to go where your eyes are pointed. Thus, if you're trying to dodge an obstruction or hole, you want to look at where you want to go, not at where you don't want to go.

You wouldn't believe how many years I rode, hitting holes I meant to avoid, or just narrowly missing them, before figuring that one out

The problem is: If something suddenly pops-up or you suddenly see it, you tend to focus on it--if only briefly. So...

Guys, the crash was inevitable. Even if he avoided her, and even if he somehow managed to not knock over the riders next to him, the rider immediately behind him who is just a few inches off his rear wheel would've hit her, and he in that case never would've saw it coming. Tony Martin perhaps surmised that his best chance was to ride right through it and hope for the best. It is cardboard after all. Didn't work out though.

Another thing to consider, anyone who's watched grand tours like the Tour de France have seen hundreds of fans in the road and part just as the riders pass. This is obviously typically on climbs, but it's not hard to imagine that Tony Martin was hoping she would step out the way. When you're pulling like he was, you tend to grind and look just a few feet in front of you. He may have not realized she had his back to him.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Balzé Halzé,

Wow. Couldn't believe that sprint. Cavendish has tied Eddy Merckx 34 stage wins

Caught a bit of yesterday's & almost all of today's stage(s).

Crazy sprint finish today, but unfortunate with the gravel a bit earlier, could've been a lot worse.

Didn't know Cav almost was without a team at the end of '20.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Didn't know Cav almost was without a team at the end of '20.

Cavendish was basically hired by Quick Step almost out of courtesy. He wasn't expected to do much. In fact, he only made the Tour team at the last minute. He was being paid the minimum salary allowed. The fact that he now has four stage wins just in this tour and has now tied the great Eddy Merckx for stage wins is just incredible. This is now the story of this year's tour.

I really didn't think he was going to pull off today's sprint. It got a little crazy, but he did it. He has two more opportunities to win more stages. If he were to break the record on the Champs-Élysées, talk about a fairy tale.

Yeah, it was looking a little dicey for Cav at the end. He got it done, though. And his leadout got 2nd as well.
Seemed a bit odd for his front leadout to get such a jump, but it all came together.

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
Wow. Couldn't believe that sprint. Cavendish has tied Eddy Merckx 34 stage wins

He has tied the number of wins, but nowhere close to the quality of wins.

mama mia

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SigSentry,

The American Sepp Kuss wins today's stage!

I don't think an American has won a stage in the TDF in like ten years. Awesome racing today. Well done, son!

Great to see an American take the stage !!
Lots of great racing today! Was very interesting watching the yellow group attack and counter attack up that last climb!!

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
The American Sepp Kuss wins today's stage!

I don't think an American has won a stage in the TDF in like ten years. Awesome racing today. Well done, son!

IIRC the last US winner was the July 4th win by Tyler Farrar. 2011, crossed the line with his fingers in a W for Wouter Weylandt who died in the Giro that year.