Wednesday, two more strikes and you are out

Moaning,
Mild! Its only just coming up to 8 °C here on the coast, hopefully it’ll warm up, chilly ride coming up

Morning

Tired after a late night and waking up early, which seems to be the new normal

D day for appliance delivery, handy being back on the big F (for now at least).
Weather forecast has taken a turn for the worst, so might be indoor cycling later.

darkhairedlord said:

sungod said:

'ning

yawn, being extremely lazy, much gmc'ing to do today

tdf later, hope it gets a bit more lively

Ideal if you fancy an afternoon nap, just set the alarm clock for 16:30 as nothing will happen until the last 3km. At least that is 2.5km more racing than yesterday!

Actually I've always wondered what the attraction is of watching a bunch of blokes pedalling along a road for several hours, every day for two weeks. I have some paint that I can watch drying instead

Another lazy start on my staycation. Will head out to that that countryside later. Coffee will do for now.

sungod said:

Stevo_666 said:

darkhairedlord said:

sungod said:

'ning

yawn, being extremely lazy, much gmc'ing to do today

tdf later, hope it gets a bit more lively

Ideal if you fancy an afternoon nap, just set the alarm clock for 16:30 as nothing will happen until the last 3km. At least that is 2.5km more racing than yesterday!

Actually I've always wondered what the attraction is of watching a bunch of blokes pedalling along a road for several hours, every day for two weeks. I have some paint that I can watch drying instead

Another lazy start on my staycation. Will head out to that that countryside later. Coffee will do for now.

eurosport's uninterrupted coverage is like test match special was in the old days, have it on in the background, they natter away, anecdotes, scenery, history, recipes, wine etc.

certainly far more entertaining than football

btw "two weeks"? ffs get some learning

Longer than 2 weeks? Blimey.

I kinda get the cricket analogy. But watching that bores bores the pants off me. I suppose it was an excuse to get hammered and catch a few rays.

Delivery driver refused to come up to the house because his "7.5t lorry" wouldn't fit.
Went down and met him and he was in a luton van thing smaller than the .com supermarket vans that bomb up and down here

In other news half our company have just been told their jobs are at risk I'm in the other half, for the moment at least.

tlw1 said:

As I predicted we went out last night as the wife got the third different diagnosis so far, depression/dementia and now paranoid schizophrenic - I wonder what the next meeting with the consultant will bring 🤬 god help anyone that doesn’t push them as much as we are.

Maybe print yourself a bingo sheet to cross them off?

tlw1 said:

Work stuff will be busy and then I need to start getting kit ready for next weeks race

Just leave it until the morning before. Always works out fine (usually).

tlw1 said:

As I predicted we went out last night as the wife got the third different diagnosis so far, depression/dementia and now paranoid schizophrenic - I wonder what the next meeting with the consultant will bring 🤬 god help anyone that doesn’t push them as much as we are.

Work stuff will be busy and then I need to start getting kit ready for next weeks race

I presume that your MIL is getting on in her years. Usually people develop Paranoid Schizophrenia in their teens to their late twenties. It would somewhat unusual to develop it later in life.

Charlie_Croker said:

Stevo_666 said:

darkhairedlord said:

sungod said:

'ning

yawn, being extremely lazy, much gmc'ing to do today

tdf later, hope it gets a bit more lively

Ideal if you fancy an afternoon nap, just set the alarm clock for 16:30 as nothing will happen until the last 3km. At least that is 2.5km more racing than yesterday!

Actually I've always wondered what the attraction is of watching a bunch of blokes pedalling along a road for several hours, every day for two weeks. I have some paint that I can watch drying instead

Another lazy start on my staycation. Will head out to that that countryside later. Coffee will do for now.

A while ago now, for my holidays I used to go touring on my motorcycle around Spain for the whole of August, every year, for years. I also started watching cycling on Eurosport when the English commentary was by the wonderful David Duffield. I would record every minute of the live broadcast of La Veulta a España and watch it later when I got home from work. David Duffield used to follow La Veulta around and sometimes would go into the same bars/restaurants that I had been in and sometimes a different one that I hadn’t tried. It was like having my own personal guide to the cuisine of Spain. Because he would fill-in with all sorts of interesting little facts about places on route, as well as what he’d eaten and weather he liked it.

This coverage and commentary is what got me back into cycling, not just watching it, I’m now a regular cyclist

If that's what got you back into cycling, then fair play. I've always been more of a doer than a watcher when it comes to cycling - but if you're going to watch the sport, then for entertainment value, for me 3 minutes of this:

https://youtu.be/EqYgAX6D43Q

beats 4 hours of blokes cycling down the road in France. Have a look and tell me what you reckon.

oxoman said:

I still try to do it but don't always bounce like I uses to 😖

You mean downhill Oxo? I still do trails, but not uplifts after I ripped my supraspinatus tendon back in 2017.

ugo.santalucia said:

tlw1 said:

As I predicted we went out last night as the wife got the third different diagnosis so far, depression/dementia and now paranoid schizophrenic - I wonder what the next meeting with the consultant will bring 🤬 god help anyone that doesn’t push them as much as we are.

Work stuff will be busy and then I need to start getting kit ready for next weeks race

Did they check the thyroid function?

Early on (fortunately next door is a retired doctor and helps us prepare)

Charlie_Croker said:

Stevo_666 said:

Charlie_Croker said:

Stevo_666 said:

darkhairedlord said:

sungod said:

'ning

yawn, being extremely lazy, much gmc'ing to do today

tdf later, hope it gets a bit more lively

Ideal if you fancy an afternoon nap, just set the alarm clock for 16:30 as nothing will happen until the last 3km. At least that is 2.5km more racing than yesterday!

Actually I've always wondered what the attraction is of watching a bunch of blokes pedalling along a road for several hours, every day for two weeks. I have some paint that I can watch drying instead

Another lazy start on my staycation. Will head out to that that countryside later. Coffee will do for now.

A while ago now, for my holidays I used to go touring on my motorcycle around Spain for the whole of August, every year, for years. I also started watching cycling on Eurosport when the English commentary was by the wonderful David Duffield. I would record every minute of the live broadcast of La Veulta a España and watch it later when I got home from work. David Duffield used to follow La Veulta around and sometimes would go into the same bars/restaurants that I had been in and sometimes a different one that I hadn’t tried. It was like having my own personal guide to the cuisine of Spain. Because he would fill-in with all sorts of interesting little facts about places on route, as well as what he’d eaten and weather he liked it.

This coverage and commentary is what got me back into cycling, not just watching it, I’m now a regular cyclist

If that's what got you back into cycling, then fair play. I've always been more of a doer than a watcher when it comes to cycling - but if you're going to watch the sport, then for entertainment value, for me 3 minutes of this:

https://youtu.be/EqYgAX6D43Q

beats 4 hours of blokes cycling down the road in France. Have a look and tell me what you reckon.

Insane!
(I'd be interested to see how quickly he could get UP that course)
There's some bike handling skills there that’s for sure.

Watching that clip Burt Monroe's words spring to mind "You live more in 5 minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in their lifetime"

It's a good watch

Although he couldn't get up the course at all, never mind the time. Too steep and the bikes weigh 17kg or so with 200mm of soft travel. You get taken up in a van...

Properly exhilarating to do but it can be painful when you get it wrong.

I had to switch the commentary off on that vid. Why don't they just shuddup and let the cycling do the talking?

Frikkin monsoon² here.

The Tour - a feeling, a spectacle, it's massive
The Giro - a race, an uncontrollable delinquent - the best of the 3 GT's.
The Vuelta - an elusive Spanish girl dancing in a hot 'patio'

Magic steeped in history and the unwritten rules, the allegiances, the grind, how the story unfolds, the legendary climbs, the toil, the euphoria, the heartbreak, the opportunists, the wheel suckers, the green stagiere's, the canny, the nearly men, the sacrifices of the domestiques and super domestiques, explosions of power, explosions from fatigue...

This year's TdF is 180 odd blokes (left?) who aren't in the best of shape due to the concatenated season. It's been quite odd so far but refreshing all the same.

Ban race radio and power meters. Pass it on.

I got a bit carried away, time for bed Zebedee methinks.

thistle_(mbnw) said:

pinno said:

I had to switch the commentary off on that vid. Why don't they just shuddup and let the cycling do the talking?

That particular clip is all about the commentary

The commentator is a bit of a motormouth but great run all the same.

While we're on the subject, there's less commentary in the clip below, but this bloke won even though his chain dropped off just after the start

https://youtu.be/KMJTnB-50zE

thistle_(mbnw) said:

Stevo_666 said:

thistle_(mbnw) said:

pinno said:

I had to switch the commentary off on that vid. Why don't they just shuddup and let the cycling do the talking?

That particular clip is all about the commentary

The commentator is a bit of a motormouth but great run all the same.

While we're on the subject, there's less commentary in the clip below, but this bloke won even though his chain dropped off just after the start

Not helping to dispel the myth that downhillers just get a lift to the top and freewheel down

I seem to remember something similar happening again the following season - Gwin got a decent time after a flat at the start, or someone else winning without a chain.

Myth?

Gwin did have a record of putting in good times despite mechanical problems, true.