Tour of California 2014 **Spoilers**

Wheelspinner

tuneskyline wrote:

I knocked this one up

Hey! :x How did you get hold of my haematocrit readings???

jscl

Wheelspinner wrote:

tuneskyline wrote:

I knocked this one up

Hey! :x How did you get hold of my haematocrit readings???

I think he's actually showing the aircraft approaching Heathrow at any one time there, clearly, can't you tell?

Macaloon

tuneskyline wrote:

This one is for you RonB, its the universe and shows proof that shoes will become self-aware in the future

Quaint. There's been an AI in my pants for years.

Nice chart. Looks a like PTP after you dropped Mr Singularity on stage 9.

RideOnTime

tuneskyline wrote:

RonB wrote:

tuneskyline wrote:

I knocked this one up

That's what we've been waiting for. The undeniable proof right there. All banged to rights as far as I'm concerned. Good effort.

This one is for you RonB, its the universe and shows proof that shoes will become self-aware in the future

Isn't that the diagrammatic representation of that roundabout in Swindon.

greasedscotsman

I extensively analysed the data and came up with this...

RonB

Macaloon wrote:

tuneskyline wrote:

This one is for you RonB, its the universe and shows proof that shoes will become self-aware in the future

Quaint. There's been an AI in my pants for years.

Nice chart. Looks a like PTP after you dropped Mr Singularity on stage 9.

A reference to Douglas Adams and H2G2 perhaps?

Macaloon

RonB wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

tuneskyline wrote:

This one is for you RonB, its the universe and shows proof that shoes will become self-aware in the future

Quaint. There's been an AI in my pants for years.

Nice chart. Looks a like PTP after you dropped Mr Singularity on stage 9.

A reference to Douglas Adams and H2G2 perhaps?

Possibly, but only accidentally. As far as I know, the Singularity formerly known as Schleck the younger is one of the few exotic phenomena not predicted by The Guide.

tailwindhome

Just little things like the way I spent my 34th birthday at the end of April. I did 7½ hours on the bike that day in Majorca. I had no breakfast, and didn’t eat anything on the bike all day because I was on a bit of a severe weight-loss thing post-Paris-Roubaix. I was away training, sleeping in a [oxygen] tent in Majorca on my son’s birthday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... trong.html

Macaloon

Crumbs.

Wiggins said earlier this year that he believed the American public had been “robbed” by the seven-time Tour de France champion’s actions, adding that he felt it incumbent upon him, as “one of only a handful of clean Tour winners”, to do what he could to restore the credibility of cycling in the States.

I don't understand the logic of this Filling the Void nonsense. Simon Fuller might think that it's incumbent upon Wiggo to burnish Simon Fuller's credibility in the States, but I doubt Wiggo will. Especially when Lance decides to play along for the publicity value.

With better advice, I'm pretty sure Wiggo could have done something much less inflammatory than cast a Lance shadow over the peloton. That's before considering Wiggo's robust personality and its compatibility with the role of Lamb of God.

RichN95.

Macaloon wrote:

Crumbs.

Wiggins said earlier this year that he believed the American public had been “robbed” by the seven-time Tour de France champion’s actions, adding that he felt it incumbent upon him, as “one of only a handful of clean Tour winners”, to do what he could to restore the credibility of cycling in the States.

I don't understand the logic of this Filling the Void nonsense. Simon Fuller might think that it's incumbent upon Wiggo to burnish Simon Fuller's credibility in the States, but I doubt Wiggo will. Especially when Lance decides to play along for the publicity value.

With better advice, I'm pretty sure Wiggo could have done something much less inflammatory than cast a Lance shadow over the peloton. That's before considering Wiggo's robust personality and its compatibility with the role of Lamb of God.

The thing is that the whole Armstrong thing was barely a bump in the road for US cycling. It damaged next to nothing. The teams, the races, the domestic scene, the crowds, the TV coverage - all largely uneffected.

Now, if it was Germany, then that would be a different matter. The fallout from Ullrich and T-Mobile caused more devastation to cycling that Armstrong and USP did.

Macaloon

RichN95 wrote:

The thing is that the whole Armstrong thing was barely a bump in the road for US cycling. It damaged next to nothing. The teams, the races, the domestic scene, the crowds, the TV coverage - all largely uneffected.

Now, if it was Germany, then that would be a different matter. The fallout from Ullrich and T-Mobile caused more devastation to cycling that Armstrong and USP did.

There's that Phinney-esque reek of calculated media strategy again. Unpleasant.

Richmond Racer

RichN95 wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

Crumbs.

Wiggins said earlier this year that he believed the American public had been “robbed” by the seven-time Tour de France champion’s actions, adding that he felt it incumbent upon him, as “one of only a handful of clean Tour winners”, to do what he could to restore the credibility of cycling in the States.

I don't understand the logic of this Filling the Void nonsense. Simon Fuller might think that it's incumbent upon Wiggo to burnish Simon Fuller's credibility in the States, but I doubt Wiggo will. Especially when Lance decides to play along for the publicity value.

With better advice, I'm pretty sure Wiggo could have done something much less inflammatory than cast a Lance shadow over the peloton. That's before considering Wiggo's robust personality and its compatibility with the role of Lamb of God.

The thing is that the whole Armstrong thing was barely a bump in the road for US cycling. It damaged next to nothing. The teams, the races, the domestic scene, the crowds, the TV coverage - all largely uneffected.

Now, if it was Germany, then that would be a different matter. The fallout from Ullrich and T-Mobile caused more devastation to cycling that Armstrong and USP did.

He's not casting a Lance shadow over the peloton, Maca. Inflammatory to who? Twitter? Meh.

Tis true, plenty of crowds out on the roads, on the climbs, at the starts and the finishes, from what I saw first hand, and in the coverage.

As I said in an earlier post, he certainly was massive draw for fans at the race itself. Loads of excitement about seeing Wiggo, he was mobbed for photos and autographs (have to say, have rarely seen him so relaxed). Crowds outside the team bus every day far bigger than for any other team.

Macaloon

Richmond Racer wrote:

He's not casting a Lance shadow over the peloton, Maca. Inflammatory to who? Twitter? Meh.

If you are an American (actually any) Pro cyclist Wiggins has just said you have a credibility problem in the US because Lance robbed the fans. He may not mean it in quite those stark terms, but it's a perfectly reasonable interpretation.

Where's the upside for Wiggo in sticking his neck out so far for Fuller's publicity engine? I doubt very much it's worth the risk. Presumably he's now the go to guy for anybody wanting a Lance-boost to their site metrics?

Richmond Racer

Macaloon wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

He's not casting a Lance shadow over the peloton, Maca. Inflammatory to who? Twitter? Meh.

If you are an American (actually any) Pro cyclist Wiggins has just said you have a credibility problem in the US because Lance robbed the fans. He may not mean it in quite those stark terms, but it's a perfectly reasonable interpretation.

Where's the upside for Wiggo in sticking his neck out so far for Fuller's publicity engine? I doubt very much it's worth the risk. Presumably he's now the go to guy for anybody wanting a Lance-boost to their site metrics?

You're very taken by this Fuller thing. Why does it bother you? Just interested. You know what a Wiggins fan I am, and its not something that I care about, one way or another, personally.

Macaloon

Richmond Racer wrote:

You're very taken by this Fuller thing. Why does it bother you? Just interested. You know what a Wiggins fan I am, and its not something that I care about, one way or another, personally.

It's really dumb. If the objective is to restore credibility why take a dump on some of the people (Garmin) who've been hard at it for years? He should be getting sharper advice than this. It looks to me like he's being used as a short-term vehicle, putting his crediblity at risk of Armstrong mischief.

Other than that, I'm tranquilissimo about the whole thing.

Richmond Racer

Macaloon wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

You're very taken by this Fuller thing. Why does it bother you? Just interested. You know what a Wiggins fan I am, and its not something that I care about, one way or another, personally.

It's really dumb. If the objective is to restore credibility why take a dump on some of the people (Garmin) who've been hard at it for years? He should be getting sharper advice than this. It looks to me like he's being used as a short-term vehicle, putting his crediblity at risk of Armstrong mischief.

Other than that, I'm tranquilissimo about the whole thing.

Maybe cos Garmin haven't won the Tour? And that's all the general public in the US know about? And since it all came spilling out about Lance, the two Tour winners are him and Fenton.

Cant even point to Ryder's Giro win for Garmin, for obvious reasons.

The only reason the US general public know the name Garmin is their cars sat nav. No resonance at all with a cycling team.

Macaloon

Richmond Racer wrote:

Maybe cos Garmin haven't won the Tour? And that's all the general public in the US know about? And since it all came spilling out about Lance, the two Tour winners are him and Fenton.

Cant even point to Ryder's Giro win for Garmin, for obvious reasons.

The only reason the US general public know the name Garmin is their cars sat nav. No resonance at all with a cycling team.

Hollywooding directly over currently active participants in the struggle, and a considerable number of knowledgable fans, while calling attention to their lack of credibility is one of the problems I have with project Filling the Void.

Another is how committed Wiggo will be to follow through on this. At the Tour, he'll be fair game for comments on any doping controversy as it has bearing on the credibility of the sport. Seems really daft to me.

Btw none of the above reduces my admiration for getting his head back in the game. Yet again.

Daz555

Macaloon wrote:

At the Tour, he'll be fair game for comments on any doping controversy as it has bearing on the credibility of the sport. Seems really daft to me.

Nah he'll just offload a ton of expletives which will shut the press up for the remainder of the Tour.

mechanism

Daz555 wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

At the Tour, he'll be fair game for comments on any doping controversy as it has bearing on the credibility of the sport. Seems really daft to me.

Nah he'll just offload a ton of expletives which will shut the press up for the remainder of the Tour.

Bearded Wiggins doesn't swear like the old one.

Party Weirdo

The idea of bringing 'credibility' to cycling just because he says so isn't going to have much effect as Americans only know the last person they heard of who won it cheated, then told the same story Wiggins is now for years before getting caught.

Seems to me that someone has been asked to increase his public awareness (and hopefully bank balance) in the US. The same may also be said of Wiggins making strides to get himself to the start line in Yorkshire.

Seems even 'Sirs' aren't immune to collecting a few Lance dollars.

r0bh

It's just a bit of PR fluff, I wouldn't take it too seriously!

Richmond Racer

The bunce? Almost definitely. If he re-signs with Sky, it's bound to be at a much lower non-Tour contender salary. He's probably only got a couple of years left before he retires. This might very well be his final year of the mega bucks, on the salary front. He's preparing for his post-race career - he's never made any secret of his desire to be able to provide well for his family now and later on.

The US thing wont work though. There just wont be the appetite, post-Lance. And cycling's still a very marginal sport there.

Daz555

Richmond Racer wrote:

The bunce? Almost definitely. If he re-signs with Sky, it's bound to be at a much lower non-Tour contender salary. He's probably only got a couple of years left before he retires. This might very well be his final year of the mega bucks, on the salary front. He's preparing for his post-race career - he's never made any secret of his desire to be able to provide well for his family now and later on.

There is a fair chance the Rio team pursuit final will be his last race.