Recent content by Ashtabula

Correction, I think Feature article on the early months of the 2010 season (I'm posting to the nearest applicable thread) has Lars Boom, Dutch national cross champion, at the worlds, but I'm sure he wasn't there, and in fact only rode two races last season, the Dutch nationals obviously one of...

Knowing the Vuelta would be coming up soon, I looked at the schedule for upcoming cycling events, because I have Universal Sports free over-the-air where I live as an NBC digital sub-channel. What I noticed is that all this week, there are some broadcasts of track events from the past season...

As I said above, Vs with just Sherwin during the week was much better and cleaner than expected. But they didn't show yesterday's stage at all, and today Liggett and Sherwin back together, with all the old problems. I don't think it's the individuals or the dynamic between them, it's the...

One more thing though. Caption to the picture accompanying the article on the protest repeats that Cav's wheel was snapped in half. I thought the very extensive analysis done on these threads yesterday demonstrated that while it certainly bent prodigiously, it in fact snapped back.

Interesting, and it seems to me plausible from what I know. An example of how public perception can be the inverse of what insiders think. And this is the European, mostly continental public, so that the usual factors we invoke about the English-speaking public don't apply.

I know there have been several "Vs sucks" threads lately, but I thought I'd pick up this one again. Sherwin has been doing most stages of TdS alone, and I must say, I prefer him by himself. No, he doesn't always recognize the particular riders from the video, and guesses wrong sometimes...

Grabsch or Gretsch? Text of article and rankings say Gretsch, the picture is of Grabsch--says so on the car, German champion (TT) stripes at the sleeves, and I recognize his face. It's Grabsch on the start list, too.

Are we saying... Blot, like a stain made by a liquid, or something like "Wee-'ohm Blow?" Seems funny either way, and maybe ambiguity is part of the fun.

speaking of fans When you hear as we did this week that Contador has spent several hours in a wind tunnel, I presume that means pedaling, on a setup with rollers, submerged so that the wheels would be level with the floor. And that the fans would take care of cooling in a way stationary...

Just notice the barends on Bartali's rig. Not common, I'd guess because the much longer cable travel, with more and sharper bends, would tend to make shifting sloppier and less reliable on the friction setups of the era.

Certainly riders are talked-up, particularly in the English-speaking world, beyond their likely capability. But this seems to be a curse to the ones who are overrated. What are they supposed to do, not take the money, when several times a month, at least ,well-known riders are killed or have...

Given how dark, steep, and cobbly the very short route is, I'm not surprised. Of the three riders pictured, Jimmy Engoulvent, LA, and Frank Schleck, only LA even has clip-ons.

The "Mellow Johnny's" legal fiction is going to need to be out in force, and maybe extended, or else people are just going to have to keep these worlds separate, with No. America's races being "Outlaw."

Interesting how a brand-new high wheeler is still built with cotter-pin cranks. Didn't know they still made them, since I've seen steel cotterless on discount-store bikes. Many other details--fork design, for instance--current practice.

"Doping-Kronzeuge Patrick Sinkewitz"? Brutal, and this is the live feed, not some forum poster. Witness or Testifier, I'd say.