Cycling

jenks

thread death
That Stannard win is just the nuts. Remember cheering him in my front room as he outplayed Quickstep.
Pidcock was a world junior TT champ, so he’s no slouch at that and won the Baby Giro taking all the mountain stages, I think. Whether he is prepared to sacrifice at least one of the other disciplines (mtb/CX) to concentrate on a three week race, I dunno. But I do think he could absolutely take a few one day monuments.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
I think the power meter vs instinct is a completely false dichotomy btw

it's a subset of the stats vs feeling argument across sports over the last ~20 years as advanced statistical analysis and optimization have proliferated

the real answer is and has always has been that the best approach is a combination of numbers and instinct

or, the use of instinct based on what the numbers have told you
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
that was always kind of an overblown charge - power-meter robots - against Sky. some truth in it, just overblown.

Froome in particular is not so secretly kind of a maniac supercomptetitor underneath that totally placid exterior - skip to 1:18:30 or so


and famously, his incredible Giro raid
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Pidcock was a world junior TT champ, so he’s no slouch at that and won the Baby Giro taking all the mountain stages, I think
didn't know he was world junior TT champ, that bodes well

and yeah his climbing is good enough to make it worth trying out

I just think you're trading, same as the previous riders, a virtually guaranteed Classics career for a very uncertain GC career

right now he's a serious contender in basically every Monument for the next 10+ years

chasing GC glory is cycling's chasing the dragon
 

jenks

thread death
that was always kind of an overblown charge - power-meter robots - against Sky. some truth in it, just overblown.

Froome in particular is not so secretly kind of a maniac supercomptetitor underneath that totally placid exterior - skip to 1:18:30 or so


and famously, his incredible Giro raid
I think the PM is just a tool, like HR - it gives you some useful info like how long you can ride at a certain set of watts but in a road race when it goes, you have to go and hope that everyone else is maxed out too. In a TT it’s a different matter - you can calibrate your effort much more effectively, in fact you can set up your headset to pretty much tell you what watts to ride at depending on gradient/wind etc. I use a programme called best bike split for TTs.
 

chava

Well-known member
You anglo types can use all the tech you want, I prefer my cycling old-school. I mean I even long for the pre-helmet days. I was so delighted when the only guy sponsored by Specialized but chose NOT to wear one of those hideous new ones at the TT in Copenhagen ended up winning.
 

chava

Well-known member
First time in history the dominant team was actually worth cheering for?

Cheapeau for all riders and the route planners for an excellent tour de france, on par with 2003.
 

jenks

thread death
As the Giro started today with one of the most dominant displays by a favourite on day one… as @padraig (u.s.) said elsewhere there are some genuine box office superstars racing at present who are ripping up the rule books on how to race and are creating some of the most entertaining spectacles we’ve seen in years. GC guys aren’t supposed to destroy Monuments like Tadej and Remco. CX guys aren’t supposed to smash Grand Tour stages, including Ventoux and the Champs like Wout.
 

jenks

thread death
Interesting article here on how the Tour has got faster. I can certainly attest to the marked improvements in aero and science around the sport. I think JV is right, though, to strike a note of caution at the end.

 

entertainment

Well-known member
It was a huge thing for me and my brother growing up. Every year we went to this tiny summer house a little before the tour started and stayed there for three weeks. We spent the days leading up obsessively studying these tour magazines my dad got for us, memorizing all the riders on the different teams, going through the names of past winners, looking at all the stage profiles, mouthing the names of the highest and steepest mountains with great awe as we grew this electric expectation of when they were going to ride it.
 

entertainment

Well-known member
Then after each stage we got on our bikes and went out and rode up and down this long gravel road yelling the names of our favorite riders.
 

jenks

thread death
Loving it already this year. The Netflix documentary series on last year’s tour is very watchable, they do well to create narratives for each episode. Great watching the Pidcock descent again and the redemption of Phillipsen. He now looks unbeatable on a straight sprint
 

Leo

Well-known member
just had a nice ride from downtown over the manhattan bridge, through downtown brooklyn, bedstuy, bushwick, to greenpoint. it's glorious in the summer. the air is really thick.

years ago a friend and I used to meet early (like 7-8:00 am) on a Sunday in midtown and ride all over the five boroughs, there's so little traffic that you can cover lots of ground quickly and with little trouble. we'd ride up to city island in the bronx, or out to the depths of Brooklyn or queens. one time we rode down to the ferry, took the boat to Staten Island, rode around there, then made our way back over the Bayonne Bridge into Jersey City and got the PATH home. great way to explore the city, can safely ride into shady neighborhood because no one's out yet. hilariously, some of those shady neighborhoods used to be bed-stuy and bushwick.
 

shakahislop

Well-known member
years ago a friend and I used to meet early (like 7-8:00 am) on a Sunday in midtown and ride all over the five boroughs, there's so little traffic that you can cover lots of ground quickly and with little trouble. we'd ride up to city island in the bronx, or out to the depths of Brooklyn or queens. one time we rode down to the ferry, took the boat to Staten Island, rode around there, then made our way back over the Bayonne Bridge into Jersey City and got the PATH home. great way to explore the city, can safely ride into shady neighborhood because no one's out yet. hilariously, some of those shady neighborhoods used to be bed-stuy and bushwick.
Hahaha, I've done all those rides too. My favorite now is going out to flushing on the 34th Ave open street. The one up over the triboro and randells island is great as well. Down to the rockaways is a good one. There's loads. Getting to places like ozone park and Starrett City and all of that. As you say, it just feels good to explore
 
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