Monday, March 2, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hushovd Wins Spring Classics Opener
Thor Hushovd wins the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (previously known as Omloop Het Volk). Rounding out the podium was Belgian Kevin Ista in second and the Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha in third. The Spring Classics are finally here!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
2010 Cyclocross World Championship - Quiet without Boom
Is the apocalypse nigh?? Lars Boom will not be competing in the 2010 Cyclocross World Championship to instead focus on the Spring Classics. He's not entirely hanging up the cyclocross bike, he plans on racing 5 cyclocross races "just for fun". Cyclocross Mag has the full article.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tour of California - A.K.A The worst coverage of a cycling event. Ever.
If anyone has tuned in on Versus, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Let me start by saying that I'm grateful as hell that bicycle racing is even being broadcast here in the U.S. In a country dominated by "The Big Three" (football, basketball, baseball), it's a small victory that a sport like cycling gets any air time at all.
My gratitude stops there...
Let's start with the commentating. You've got two of the best cycling announcers of all time in Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen and for some unknown reason, you feel the necessity to throw Craig Hummer into the mix. Not good. His comparisons of cycling to (gulp) American football... Well, it makes my blood boil. He's probably just trying to relate it to something he knows. Maybe he can go commentate for the NFL and leave cycling alone.
It can't get any worse with the on-screen talent. Or can it? Enter Rasika Mathur. A comedian (self proclaimed?) who conducts some filler interviews on bike-tech and other miscellaneous cycling-interest stories. Comedian?? I'm not sure if she was just searching for some arbitrary title for her self but "Entertainment Executioner" would have been more appropriate. She utterly murdered any shred of entertainment value her segments could hope to possess. Even my wife, who's not nearly as critical as I am, visibly cringed when she came on. If you missed it, here's a clip with her talking to some guy from Shimano (poor fellow).
As for the actual race coverage. Cameras not working in the rain, coverage being cut short for bull riding, missed finishes, WAY too much coverage of Lance and his team "Astanastrong". All I can say is damn.
Let me be optimistic for a moment. Maybe this was a test run so all the bugs get ironed out before the Spring Classics. I don't know about you, but any cycling fan worth his weight lives for the Spring Classics and if Versus screws them up... Liggett bar the door.
We as cyclists need a channel dedicated to the sport, and run by someone who actually knows the sport and understands it. Versus doesn't get it. The people that watch cycling (with maybe the exception of the Tour de France) are pretty passionate and well versed in the sport. We don't need some dingbat "comedian" cracking jokes while soft pedaling on a stationary trainer. Just good coverage and good commentary.
We cyclists need a channel that understands cycling and its uniqueness. Maybe it would help if cycling didn't share airtime with hockey, bull riding and hunting...
My gratitude stops there...
Let's start with the commentating. You've got two of the best cycling announcers of all time in Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen and for some unknown reason, you feel the necessity to throw Craig Hummer into the mix. Not good. His comparisons of cycling to (gulp) American football... Well, it makes my blood boil. He's probably just trying to relate it to something he knows. Maybe he can go commentate for the NFL and leave cycling alone.
It can't get any worse with the on-screen talent. Or can it? Enter Rasika Mathur. A comedian (self proclaimed?) who conducts some filler interviews on bike-tech and other miscellaneous cycling-interest stories. Comedian?? I'm not sure if she was just searching for some arbitrary title for her self but "Entertainment Executioner" would have been more appropriate. She utterly murdered any shred of entertainment value her segments could hope to possess. Even my wife, who's not nearly as critical as I am, visibly cringed when she came on. If you missed it, here's a clip with her talking to some guy from Shimano (poor fellow).
As for the actual race coverage. Cameras not working in the rain, coverage being cut short for bull riding, missed finishes, WAY too much coverage of Lance and his team "Astanastrong". All I can say is damn.
Let me be optimistic for a moment. Maybe this was a test run so all the bugs get ironed out before the Spring Classics. I don't know about you, but any cycling fan worth his weight lives for the Spring Classics and if Versus screws them up... Liggett bar the door.
We as cyclists need a channel dedicated to the sport, and run by someone who actually knows the sport and understands it. Versus doesn't get it. The people that watch cycling (with maybe the exception of the Tour de France) are pretty passionate and well versed in the sport. We don't need some dingbat "comedian" cracking jokes while soft pedaling on a stationary trainer. Just good coverage and good commentary.
We cyclists need a channel that understands cycling and its uniqueness. Maybe it would help if cycling didn't share airtime with hockey, bull riding and hunting...
Friday, February 20, 2009
Ghosts of My Past - Estes Park Challenge - Stage 3 RR
This is it. the final stage. A 9 mile loop of hilly hell that we would have to traverse 5 grueling times. After the road race and time trial from yesterday, my legs are a bit fatigued. Maybe gelatinous would be a better description. I tried to scope out the course by car last night but ended up getting lost on some crazy canyon road in the dark. Oh well, sometimes I feel like the less I'm prepared, the better I do. Less pressure.
I get a short warm up in and it's time to line up. A few riders exchange nervous banter while waiting for the start. Why is it that people can't just sit in silence. Is it nerves? The gun interrupts my pondering and were off.
The peloton moves along with a comfortable ease, legs a bit fatigued from the previous day. The first 2 and a half to 3 laps continue at this pace, feeling almost too easy. I'm up near the front to keep out of trouble (and to keep an eye on the overall leader), riding along, maybe even getting a bit lax... When, bam! an attack goes clear. The leader isn't in it so nobody responds. I sit, watching the group of 5 or 6 riders pull away. I could catch them still, if I really put the hammer down but another minute and it will be a different story.
I go. This is a hands in the drops, head low, big ring pain fest, but I know I can bridge the gap. Inching closer, I notice a shadow on my left side. A glance back and I realize that I've towed the entire peloton up to the lead group. Good for me...
One big happy family again. Everyone plays nice until the first hill on lap 4. It's a steepish number, not particularly long but a leg burner just the same. Who decides to attack? The leader himself. Stockburger. No one chases... What the hell?? Do I have to do everything? So I go. I get right on his wheel and sit in. That wasn't too tough. I look behind me and we've put some distance between us and the peloton. This is crazy. I'm on a possible winning break with the overall leader of the Estes Park Challenge.
I take a turn or two up front until we get to the false-flat downhill that precedes the start/finish. Then Stockburger hides behind my ample draft and lets me pull him all the way to the next hill. We cross the start/finish line, 1 lap to go....
I'm feeling good but getting nervous. I can't panic but the gravity of my situation is setting in. I'm in second place and there is the slim possibility that I could win (if I don't do something stupid). I glance behind me as we start the climb, the peloton is back there but I don't think we'll have to worry about them catching up.
That's me in the dark blue looking a little haggard, sitting in second place in stage three of the Estes Park Challenge.
All the sudden Stockburger stands up and he's gone. Damn... I go WAY in the red just to match his acceleration and proceed to blow up... Damn. Next thing I know, the peloton is passing me and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm now with the stragglers that the peloton dropped. I get in with a small group of 5 or 6 and we take turns up front on the final downhill before the finish.
I've got nothing left for the finish. That last hill is going to eat me for breakfast and it seems everyone in the group knows it. They all attack in unison and I put forth everything I've got to pull even with the last guy in the group as we cross the line.
21st place. Stockburger won (not that I was surprised). Race over. That was my first and only stage race.
What did I learn from all this? Well, it was something another rider said to me that I've held onto over the years. A Vitamin Cottage rider came up to me after the race and told me that I rode really aggressively, and that he thought that if I had played my cards better, I could have beaten Stockburger. He said I worked too much at the front and chased down too many breaks over the course of the race. I needed to conserve more energy and not to expend it unwisely. And most of all, to be patient. It's funny, at the time, I was probably a little taken aback by what he said. But as I've aged, I realized he was absolutely right.
Final overall: 17th place.
I get a short warm up in and it's time to line up. A few riders exchange nervous banter while waiting for the start. Why is it that people can't just sit in silence. Is it nerves? The gun interrupts my pondering and were off.
The peloton moves along with a comfortable ease, legs a bit fatigued from the previous day. The first 2 and a half to 3 laps continue at this pace, feeling almost too easy. I'm up near the front to keep out of trouble (and to keep an eye on the overall leader), riding along, maybe even getting a bit lax... When, bam! an attack goes clear. The leader isn't in it so nobody responds. I sit, watching the group of 5 or 6 riders pull away. I could catch them still, if I really put the hammer down but another minute and it will be a different story.
I go. This is a hands in the drops, head low, big ring pain fest, but I know I can bridge the gap. Inching closer, I notice a shadow on my left side. A glance back and I realize that I've towed the entire peloton up to the lead group. Good for me...
One big happy family again. Everyone plays nice until the first hill on lap 4. It's a steepish number, not particularly long but a leg burner just the same. Who decides to attack? The leader himself. Stockburger. No one chases... What the hell?? Do I have to do everything? So I go. I get right on his wheel and sit in. That wasn't too tough. I look behind me and we've put some distance between us and the peloton. This is crazy. I'm on a possible winning break with the overall leader of the Estes Park Challenge.
I take a turn or two up front until we get to the false-flat downhill that precedes the start/finish. Then Stockburger hides behind my ample draft and lets me pull him all the way to the next hill. We cross the start/finish line, 1 lap to go....
I'm feeling good but getting nervous. I can't panic but the gravity of my situation is setting in. I'm in second place and there is the slim possibility that I could win (if I don't do something stupid). I glance behind me as we start the climb, the peloton is back there but I don't think we'll have to worry about them catching up.
That's me in the dark blue looking a little haggard, sitting in second place in stage three of the Estes Park Challenge.
All the sudden Stockburger stands up and he's gone. Damn... I go WAY in the red just to match his acceleration and proceed to blow up... Damn. Next thing I know, the peloton is passing me and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm now with the stragglers that the peloton dropped. I get in with a small group of 5 or 6 and we take turns up front on the final downhill before the finish.
I've got nothing left for the finish. That last hill is going to eat me for breakfast and it seems everyone in the group knows it. They all attack in unison and I put forth everything I've got to pull even with the last guy in the group as we cross the line.
21st place. Stockburger won (not that I was surprised). Race over. That was my first and only stage race.
What did I learn from all this? Well, it was something another rider said to me that I've held onto over the years. A Vitamin Cottage rider came up to me after the race and told me that I rode really aggressively, and that he thought that if I had played my cards better, I could have beaten Stockburger. He said I worked too much at the front and chased down too many breaks over the course of the race. I needed to conserve more energy and not to expend it unwisely. And most of all, to be patient. It's funny, at the time, I was probably a little taken aback by what he said. But as I've aged, I realized he was absolutely right.
Final overall: 17th place.
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