Let's Talk Cycling

I doubt if Saiz could get have gotten Heras had Beloki not left him, but if that were the case, that'd have been super scary. As is Liberty Seguros is credible w/ possible revelation Nozal and Heras and the Gonzalez bros. Do they leave one of these guys out to peak for the Vuelta? They will need to represent there.

After watching Valverde at the Vuelta, that first stage he won- he looked like a man among boys despite being only 23. With a gradual uphill sprint, he looked like a monster-- megawatts. And on the Pandera, chasing Cardenas and Heras! I am sad Kelme got downgraded. I assume that means no TdF.

Kelme should get an invite anyway, they always manage to find someone new that does well. Maybe if they do well early in the year? But I've learned never to underestimate the ability of Leblanc to invite the wrong teams.

I don't follow him too closely, but he seems like a classic player's coach, getting results via the strength of his relationships to his riders rather than tactical superiority.

I think a mountain stage win is much better publicity-wise than waiting watching the peleton seethe down the final straight hoping Petacchi or Cipo or Zabel will bounce out 50 meters before the finish and get you 2 seconds of screen time. Even mtn attacks that don't succeed get you more screen time.

Jan's back with Telekom, eh? They need to stop wasting their efforts on the dull dull dull Zabel in the first week and just keep Jan out of trouble. Vinu can help him up the climbs.

Zabel, he seems like one of the genuinely nice blokes in the sport. And still right up there in the rankings. Telekom-wise, I think that Cadel Evans could sneak the odd stage win if he rides the tour. He's a gutsy lad.

http://www.kelme.com/tienda/55468_i.html

Cadel Evans is one of those "I can't stay on the bike" people where I eventually question their bike-handling or placement skills. Hamilton too.

I know what you mean, but it's sort of odd considering his mountain biking background. Must be those darn skinny tyres...

Yep, that colour scheme even makes their Pinarellos an eyesore. Mmmmm, Pinarellos...

The worst thing about the Telekom kit was a few years back when it was made by Adidas (probably still is), and they wore black shorts with three white lines creeping up each buttock before stopping abruptly, giving the look of long sinister finger caressing their arses.

My favourite sprinter ever is Mario, closely followed by that unpronouncable, unspellable maniac Djmolodin Abdujaburov. That must be spelt wrong.

True, but have you ever seen Tyler in person? He's really really small. I think that makes his descents much tougher compared to LA at 155 or JU at 165+. And the comment about JU tells a lot about how his descending has improved- Riis had bungee him to his wheel in 97 to get him down the cols. I guess LA learned from Sean Yates from what I read.

When I'd see Jon Vaughters in our local training ride, I was totally amazed that he got around the pro peloton at all, he is soooo slight. When you ride behind him you can see his vertebrae. I mean even more than usual when you ride behind some skinny-ass climber.

Don't think that was Abdoujaparov or Paris. Jalabert and some other bloke caught the copper, although it might have been from Abdu pushing them to the barriers. I think it was in Bordeaux. Can someone clarify this?

Most famously in 1991, "Abdou" won the competition despite his spectacular crash on the Champs Elysees, where he swerved into the barrier, collided with a giant promotional coke can and somersaulted into the air. He had to cross the line unaided to win, so the team picked him up, put him back on the bike and he rode slowly over the last few meters with team members and medical staff either side of him ready to catch him if he fell.

From the first Google hit:
Let's Talk Cycling

http://www.cycledisciple.com/Asks/askWhoAbdu.htm

That was Petacchi, who certainly looks like the new Cipo. But to be fair about half his team dropped out over the course of a couple of days with a stomach bug. He didn't exactly get in the car at the bottom of the first climb and catch a flight to the beach within a couple hours.

"BIKE
A weekly show delving into the art, science, politics and transcendental pleasure of cycling, in London and beyond. From the Tour de France to Critical Mass, from cycle commuting to Kraftwerk, if it's got wheels, pedals, handlebars and a bell, it's here.
Joining Jack in the studio will be David Ferry, internationally exhibited artist head of printmaking at Winchester School of Art, but also an amateur road racing star who's competed in many classic races on three continents."

Oof - you know that that's gotta hurt! Note the guys in the background haven't even reacted to this yet. Trying to figure out what's happened, think the wheel's gone first, then the frame. Whatever, this is going to make me even more of a mincer downhill than I was to start with.

Training for something Cutty?

If one must ride indoors, rollers are good. Those spinning bikes at the gym are nice too--fixey drivetrain with a huge flywheel.

After not even 3 hours of bike riding yesterday my penis remains partially numb. Reading about saddle induced erectile dysfunction is not reassuring me about this either. How does one solve such a problem without shelling out a bunch of money for a addled with a hole in it?

A saddle with a hole in it. Any other perineum care advice is appreciated.

The saddle with the hole is the only way I can think of around this (I've tried a few different ones, but have settled on Selle Anatomica). My issue has not been Boner dysfunction but just a very sore perineum after riding. As for other tips I can offer; avoid pants that are tight down there and avoid spicy foods (or so a urologist told me once). Unfortunately sex seems to aggravate an already-sore perineum.

Yeah, I am.just going to sporting for a new saddle, probably. Tilting the saddle downward apparently helps too. Didn't know about spicy foods though, strange...

I'm having a similar thing where I'm riding on my perineum instead of my seatbones and I can't figure out how to adjust the saddle and handlebars so that I don't do that w/o actually like PUSHING myself back w/ my arms

frame too large? handlebar stem too long? the recommended frame sizes can vary a lot in terms of actual suitability ime.

brother a keen cyclist and he recently dropped two sizes and has never been happier on a bike (tho he does like a quite "aggressive" feeling).

general point being that no matter what is recommended to you, I tend to try and find what feels like a comfortable geometry - regardless of what I'm "supposed" to need!

(I remember getting rid of "old bluey" and buying what I thought was p much exactly the same set of measurements for a "better" bike and I was never truly happy on it.

Are you prejudiced against cyclists? Why is society prejudiced against cyclists?

http://singletrackworld.com/columns/2015/06/bez-them-and-us/

Good article SM. That 'hit a nerve' tweet was rightly excoriated.

hey i've ridden with that guy! the author I mean, not the bloke on the pavement. missed all the brouhaha about the initial incident - suspect the guy fled cos he thought he was going to get punched. and also he's probably a dick - nothing to do with not having a licence or not being insured. if he'd have stopped, i wonder how the discourse would have developed?

Anyone know anything about cargo bikes?

smh at this whole thing:

http://road.cc/content/news/159478-video-close-passing-ultra-sweary-driver-takes-tumble-after-chasing-and-kicking

I am reeling right now. A friend of mine, and one of the most tireless advocates for cycling in Cleveland, has been spending the last two months cycling across the country from Cleveland to Seattle, where she is moving permanently. Her fiancé had moved there ahead of time and set up house to await her. Saturday night, she was hit from behind in Montana by a car going more than 60mph and has been hospitalized since then with potentially life-threatening injuries. Everyone I know is in shock. Shelli literally lived for cycling; she biked more than 30 miles a day at least, back and forth to work, and has cycled all over America.

Local Cleveland coverage: http://www.bikecleveland.org/bike-cle/news/cle-2-sea-shelli-snyder-in-our-thoughts/2016/09/

Montana new story: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/bicyclist-pedestrian-hit-by-vehicles-on-u-s/article_cff19898-7eb0-11e6-b745-b31e1d12ec3d.html

Oh damn. So sorry to hear this. Sending absolute best.

So horrible Phil. I think about that and it's why I rarely ride on the road anymore.

A woman in Montana who was on the scene when Shelli was hit, and rendered what aid she could (she happens to be a veterinarian) until EMS arrived happened to post about it on FB: https://www.facebook.com/bethany.e.harris.9/posts/10104501151363548 . She then later found our FB group for keeping each other posted about Shelli's status and has been posting there.

Two of our other friends -- one of whom leads our local cycling group -- flew out with Shelli's mom. They've been keeping her in a medically-induced coma for a few days, she had surgeries on her leg, hip and arm and they want to see if the frontal lobe swelling subsides. She can breathe on her own but they're keeping her on a respirator while she's comatose. (Apparently yesterday morning she started coughing and reached for the tube, but they dosed her with additional Dialaudid and she relaxed. I guess that's good?)

yes good in the sense that a) it's SOP and b) results were what would have been anticipated.

A lot of waiting and hoping (and praying, if you're that kind of person) is about all they can do right now. So rough.

Ugh, Shelli was taken to emergency surgery this morning, as pressure in her brain increased overnight so they're going to temporarily remove a portion of her skull. She's still being kept comatose and incubated.

If/when she's stabilized and cleared by a neurosurgeon, they're going to Lifeflight her back to Cleveland, which is so bitterly ironic I can barely handle it. It's also going to eat up most of what her GoFundMe has raised so far, about $30,000.