Silly commuting racing

woodford2barbican

Apparently - and this is only a rumour - it was this thread that convinced Lance to end his retirement!

2wheelzgood

woodford2barbican wrote:

Apparently - nd this is only a ruomour - it was this thread that convinced Lance to end his retirement!

bahahaaha

On a sidenote; I've been reading a few comments on here and Eurosport by Joe Bloggs, why is there so much resentment about Lance coming back. He was clean right? And such a good sportsman and ambassador. I bet it's not easy having to put up with 7 years of constant cries never mind the fact he beat cancer.


PapaLazaru: that is trying hard in the extreme! If that Ss guy recognised you from the filter lane, you'll be branded a "playa" and a "hustler" rather than a true player (or is it playee?) of the game.

biondino

2wheelz - the Cycling Fans Anonymous blog is a good (if ultra-cynical) source for Lance stuff and why he's not a good thing. I think generously we can agree that he never failed a dope test. As to whether he's clean (7 times TdF winner in an era of hardcore and widespread dopijng?) I don't imagine we'll ever really know.

http://cyclingfansanonymous.blogspot.com/

secretsam

2wheelzgood wrote:

On a sidenote; I've been reading a few comments on here and Eurosport by Joe Bloggs, why is there so much resentment about Lance coming back. He was clean right? And such a good sportsman and ambassador. I bet it's not easy having to put up with 7 years of constant cries never mind the fact he beat cancer.quote]

Whether he's clean or not, his record of 7 wins is meaningless as the Tour was about the only race he entered each year, unlike the Gods of Yore like Hinault, Mercx et al, who raced the whole season.

And as a person, I think he's a bit of a see you next Tuesday.

So there you go, nice and balanced perspective as ever.

And I can't stand Lemond either, maybe it's just American cyclists .

2wheelzgood

oopsie what have I done to our thread!
I'm naive then but a few years ago in my late teens and 20 or so.. the only link I had to cycling was my 10 downhill and 25 min slog up from/to the school bus every day.
He spoke English (eeeeh :? ) and had overcome hardships. But anyway. We shou;ld back our British talent.. hmm except he wins 4 stages then quits to concentrate on something else then is bitter as he was not as successful.. :roll: Who chose to quite the TdF?

anyway. Pro's playing the Game topics ought to revolve around Vicky-the legs-Pendleton surely :oops:

knight2k

Joined the Game last night, though not in a strict commuting style. I attended a charity event at Silverstone Race Circuit in aid of Macmillan Cancer. You paid a fiver and were able to do laps of the Grand Prix Circuit.

There was all manner of cyclists there from toddlers with stabilisers, unicyclists, jeans wearing mountain bikers’ right up to the top of the Food Chain. Most people were taking it easy, however the roadies like myself, FCN 2 (full club kit/cap, spds, hairy legs and a beard), were taking it seriously.

It was wet and very windy, and I am pleased to report I scalped a couple of guys from the local rival cycle club going into Priory and got another guy on a Planet X Stealth at Becketts. (How cool does that sound).

Still yet to scalp on the road, hardly any commuters in Chesham, but I wanted to post here to show my commitment to The Game having followed this thread since the end of June.

itboffin

woodford2barbican wrote:

Apparently - and this is only a rumour - it was this thread that convinced Lance to end his retirement!

I have to say it, why? what does he have to prove?

He's even been competing in endurance MB races, nutter.

Bassjunkieuk

itboffin wrote:

woodford2barbican wrote:

Apparently - and this is only a rumour - it was this thread that convinced Lance to end his retirement!

I have to say it, why? what does he have to prove?

He's even been competing in endurance MB races, nutter.

I've just read another article on this that said he was also taking part in 5 other races in 2009 and would be collecting no salary or bonuses :shock:
Guess that goes to show he must be a *tiny* bit mad - fancy dragging yourself all over France for nothing - except the pure enjoyment of riding and all the glory of course!

itboffin

Perhaps we should invite him to our next drinks

2wheelzgood

What is a TdF winner's FCN base?

A tenner on G66 scalping him if he recovers from injury. the odds on that ought to allow me to pay my gas bill this year, just.
That or buy a nice new On ONe planet X monster track bike thing! WOW

Bassjunkieuk

itboffin wrote:

Perhaps we should invite him to our next drinks

Sounds good, I'll just fire off a quick e-mail to lance.armstrong@astana.com

biondino

Ooh - just remembered I scalped a scooter last night! First one! Slightly spoiled by a roadie overtaking me AND the scooter but I was pretty confident I could have had him had he not almost immediately turned off.

cjcp

2wheelzgood wrote:

What is a TdF winner's FCN base?

A tenner on G66 scalping him if he recovers from injury. the odds on that ought to allow me to pay my gas bill this year, just.
That or buy a nice new On ONe planet X monster track bike thing! WOW

I think it's fair to say this: it's one thing racing the equivalent of a marathon a day for three weeks, sometimes at altitude and in foul weather, with hair-raising descents, and to win it seven times in a row. It is, however, quite another thing to commuter race, be it along Embankment or against Attica in the west country or against UPL north of the border. LA had a team to work for him. On the commute, you're all alone, often in the dark now, constantly looking behind you. The Tour is a child's playground. As for commuting, Welcome to the Thunderdome.

Absolutely rocked it in this morning. And LA wouldn't have caught me if he was in the DS's car. 8)



(Yeah, ok, he would have ).

2wheelzgood

teehee.
Oh BD (bion-dino??.. eludes me as to why.. anyhoo) you reminded me that I scalped a tractor on a ride on my fixed at the weekend. Wasn't commuting but I left him at some lights after he came past me while I wasn't paying attention. Just got on the drops and head down. I looked back a good half mile on thinking he'd turned off in defeat but no, he was there but way back. Unfortunately diesel power beats muesli power up hills!

Littigator

woodford2barbican wrote:

Apparently - and this is only a rumour - it was this thread that convinced Lance to end his retirement!

THAT...is genius!

Ride in this morning, I am starting to think people are hiding from me.

Although I did have a rather tasty scalp along the Embankment, guy on a slicked MTB (no bag), kept pushing up from the lights at Chelsea bridge turning right and for the next set and was poncing around generally...I let him have a bit of room to get going and in my best on the uprights, back straight, whislting as i go 'not trying' pose, I howled past him at about 90% top speed...nice!

Greg T

My first day back at work after taking delivery of Bianchi.

I have no idea how I got here, my memory begins two minutes ago - I have five cups of coffee on my desk, my face is smeared with mars bar and I have a picture of a baby on my mobile phone.

I fear relapse by home time - I hope my previously excellent beer auto pilot will kick in.

If you scalp a bemused guy wobbling around on a singly tonight please let me draft you.

attica

or against Attica in the west country

I think I've mentioned before about my vague embarrasment about sharing a surname with cousin Lance, fortunately we're not of the same gene pool as he was adopted.

LA drinking cider and sleeping with his sister, like we apparently do out west just, wouldn't be quite the same would it?

Coriander

Attica wrote:

[LA drinking cider and sleeping with his sister, like we apparently do out west just, wouldn't be quite the same would it?

He's from Texas, they get up to far worse there.

attica

Ah yes, Texas IS one big gene pool, Duh <slaps forehead>

cjcp

Greg T wrote:

My first day back at work after taking delivery of Bianchi.

I have no idea how I got here, my memory begins two minutes ago - I have five cups of coffee on my desk, my face is smeared with mars bar and I have a picture of a baby on my mobile phone.

I fear relapse by home time - I hope my previously excellent beer auto pilot will kick in.

If you scalp a bemused guy wobbling around on a singly tonight please let me draft you.

Get him while you can, chaps.

Sorry, a scalp is a scalp.

Oh, and copngrats by the way. Good work. Glad to see you've increased the coffee intake. Have you learned how to carry said child in one arm, put coffee in the filter, fill the machine with water with the other?

Littigator

Greg T wrote:

My first day back at work after taking delivery of Bianchi.

I have no idea how I got here, my memory begins two minutes ago - I have five cups of coffee on my desk, my face is smeared with mars bar and I have a picture of a baby on my mobile phone.

I fear relapse by home time - I hope my previously excellent beer auto pilot will kick in.

If you scalp a bemused guy wobbling around on a singly tonight please let me draft you.

Welcome back GT

We'd summarise what you've missed in the last 2 weeks but that'd take more power than a new Swiss/French washing machine needs these days (ithankyou)

Needless to say it's been as incisive as Paxman on speed and as amusing as Eddie Izzard crossed with sleepy puppies doing silly things!

Has Bianchi mastered your turbo trainer yet? For GODS sake man, what are you dithering for the next Olympiad is only 4 years away!

biondino

Okay, advice please if possible?

I love my Focus dearly and although it's not really the ideal commuting bike, I wouldn't have it any other way. And although I can deal with the bumps and potholes I come across, my bike has one small but annoying problem. The rear brake cable is internally routed through the top tube and when I hit any kind of significant bump, it slaps against the inside of the tube like a soft but echoey rifle shot. By tautening it (i.e. pulling it from the front as far as it will easily go) I can only prevent Or more like reduce) this for a couple of seconds. Anyone got any cast iron solutions?

cjcp

biondino wrote:

Okay, advice please if possible?

I love my Focus dearly and although it's not really the ideal commuting bike, I wouldn't have it any other way. And although I can deal with the bumps and potholes I come across, my bike has one small but annoying problem. The rear brake cable is internally routed through the top tube and when I hit any kind of significant bump, it slaps against the inside of the tube like a soft but echoey rifle shot. By tautening it (i.e. pulling it from the front as far as it will easily go) I can only prevent Or more like reduce) this for a couple of seconds. Anyone got any cast iron solutions?

Buy a new bike.

(And one with more than one gear, please. )

What about tightening it by pulling it from through the rear brake? Your problem is gravity though. Have you asked anyone in the "Road" section?

Littigator

Firstly, saw your top tube in half (gently of course you don't want to saw through the cable as well, that'd be silly)...then once you've got all the way through...gently ease apart the two halves to expose the brake cabke.

Now dribble some super glue down each half of your top tube and glue your cable to each part of the inside of the halves of the tube.

Put the two sections of your top tube back together and then take a long roll of sellotape. Start wrapping the sellotape around the saw line in your top tube and keep wrapping until you've got a nice big amount to rejoin the two parts.

Hey presto, you'll have no more problems with that annoying slapping cable

what? :shock:

cjcp

biondino wrote:

Okay, advice please if possible?

I love my Focus dearly and although it's not really the ideal commuting bike, I wouldn't have it any other way. And although I can deal with the bumps and potholes I come across, my bike has one small but annoying problem. The rear brake cable is internally routed through the top tube and when I hit any kind of significant bump, it slaps against the inside of the tube like a soft but echoey rifle shot. By tautening it (i.e. pulling it from the front as far as it will easily go) I can only prevent Or more like reduce) this for a couple of seconds. Anyone got any cast iron solutions?

Litts - you've lost it, mate.

BD - I don't know anything about internal routing, but can you buy plasticy insert bits which you slide on to the cable and insert into the frame, thereby lifting the cable away from the inside of the top tube?

itboffin

biondino wrote:

Okay, advice please if possible?

I love my Focus dearly and although it's not really the ideal commuting bike, I wouldn't have it any other way. And although I can deal with the bumps and potholes I come across, my bike has one small but annoying problem. The rear brake cable is internally routed through the top tube and when I hit any kind of significant bump, it slaps against the inside of the tube like a soft but echoey rifle shot. By tautening it (i.e. pulling it from the front as far as it will easily go) I can only prevent Or more like reduce) this for a couple of seconds. Anyone got any cast iron solutions?

Bunny hop all the pot holes/bumps you can bunny hop right?

Bassjunkieuk

cjcp wrote:

biondino wrote:

Okay, advice please if possible?

I love my Focus dearly and although it's not really the ideal commuting bike, I wouldn't have it any other way. And although I can deal with the bumps and potholes I come across, my bike has one small but annoying problem. The rear brake cable is internally routed through the top tube and when I hit any kind of significant bump, it slaps against the inside of the tube like a soft but echoey rifle shot. By tautening it (i.e. pulling it from the front as far as it will easily go) I can only prevent Or more like reduce) this for a couple of seconds. Anyone got any cast iron solutions?

Buy a new bike.

(And one with more than one gear, please. )

What about tightening it by pulling it from through the rear brake? Your problem is gravity though. Have you asked anyone in the "Road" section?

Buy a Bowery - You know you enjoyed it on Friday :P and remember they don't come as standard with that gearing!

Either that or change your route to avoid the potholes :-D
On a serious note I'm glad you've brought this up as it's these kinda of details you never read about on a review!

snooks

biondino

Listen to your ipod...or buy some ear plugs????


Or more seriously, get a couple of rubber bands to match yer frame....wrap them tighly around one end of the cable where it extis the frame, then do the same for the other end, tighten the cable and push the band up tight, then do the same for the other end....or you could try self amalgamating tape and try the same thing.

Might just werk

lost_in_thought

Littigator wrote:

Ride in this morning, I am starting to think people are hiding from me.

I can just picture those with a higher FCN than you leaping into the river...

And welcome back Greg!

Get Bianchi on one of these



Apparently it's a

Funny baby bike for exciting and training your babies interesting and living skill

So yeah... sounds like a great idea, and funny too! I notice, however, that it has no pedals... :shock:

And in Olivia's northern europe-ish cycling news, not a bike to be seen in Tallinn (capital of Estonia). I suspect they have all been stolen, and melted down into a nutritious soup...

itboffin

So about this 11 wet commuting days a year!!! Perhaps what they meant was 11 dry days a year.

I quite like the wet I always seem to good just that little quicker, it does however slim down the available prey.