Recent content by bhilden

A friend of mine went in for routine knee surgery. After the surgery he developed blood clots and had to take blood thinners for several years. My friend was not taking EPO.

As far as cobblestoned mountains go, probably the most well known is the old road up the south side of the Gotthard Pass outside Airolo in Switzerland. The Val Tremola, as it is known, is about a 1000m climb (1100m to 2100m). The grade is mostly 7-8% as I recall. They went up it in the the...

I would be interested in knowing when the lights were installed in the tunnel on the Col du Sanetsch. I rode it in July 2009 and there were no lights. Good call on the Port du Boucharo. However, unless somebody removes the big boulders at the Col de Tentes you could only probably race to...

With regards to the Veleta, also known as Sierra Nevada or Pico Veleta, the Vuelta only goes partway up this huge climb. Depending on the year, they stop at either 2100m(ski station), 2300m or 2500m. However, the road continues paved all the way to 3300m. The last 1km to the top of Pico...

As far as the climbs on the Canary Islands go, nothing on Tenerife is very steep except for the climb out of Masca that has a short section of 20%, but overall that climb isn't very long. There are four roads up Teide all are about a 2000m climb, but again not very steep(5-8%, mostly in the...

The north side of the Col de Lataillade in the Pyrenees is so unknown I can't even find a profile of it though climbbybike.com has a profile of the much easier south/west side. The Lataillade runs parallel to the Col de Soudet, one valley to the west. The total climbing is 1125m(300m to...

Col de l'Arpettaz near Albertville could add some spice to the Dauphine, Tour or any other race in this region. Total climb is 1161m over 16km. The last 11km average 8.4%. http://www.climbbybike.com/profile.asp?Climbprofile=Col-de-lArpettaz&MountainID=6030

Yup! What the little prince says! 38T. BTW, that's what Andy Schleck rides in the mountains at the Tour.

I interviewed Cavendish on the second rest day at the 2009 Tour. His book, Boy Racer, had just come out and I asked him if there was anything in the book about his personality that we didn't see on TV. His response was, "the public only sees me at the end of a sprint finish. If I win I am...

I posted early in this thread and then went on a 6-hour bike ride. Here is a bit of follow up. My guess as to what happened is that the French TV car left the start well before the race actually started. They stopped for lunch somewhere (very French!) and spent a bit too much time in the...

Having covered the Tour de France for 20+ years and driven many, many miles in the race I can tell you that what happened today with the TV car knocking down the riders is not normal. Thank heavens. There is a very strict order for cars in the peloton based on the color of your credential...

The tunnels in question are the two long, narrow, unlit ones just east of the town of La Grave on the descent of the Col du Lauteret toward Bourg d'Oisans. This is the route that will be taken on the stage from Modane to l'Alpe d'Huez. It is a 90 Euro fine for riding in those tunnels without...

Best quote from the video: Q: How many years have you been a professional? Andy: Two weeks! What Team 7-Eleven did at the 1985 Giro (2 stage wins, Hampsten 20th overall, Heiden winning Hot Spot Sprint jersey) was nothing short of incredible.

Kudos to Dave Chauner and crew for keeping this race going for 26 years, but they really have to do something to make this race more interesting. It is a great showcase for young, US domestic pros to go out early and get some TV time for themselves and their sponsor(s), but the only thing that...

I think it is a huge stretch to say the guys he was racing against were also taking PED's. Tilin was racing in the Masters 35+ 4/5 category which is the bottom level of the sport in the US for Masters racers. The more accomplished racers are racing in the Masters 35+ 1/2/3. I am also a...